This evening I depart for the second motorcycle European trip of the year,this time to Arnhem and the surrounding area for the inevitable museums/battlefield memorials tour. There's 15 of us on this short expedition,a mixture of ex-Forces/ex-Met.Filth/retired Firemen and miscellaneous also-rans and makeweights,(I include myself in the latter by the way,christ knows why I end up surrounded by old public sector uniform wearers all the time.I went to Normandy with some of them last year,and although they subsequently claimed my less-than-serious attitude to life/persistent humour in the face of adversity did not suit their ethos,I've been invited back.Hopefully by popular demand,but what the hey...) The management masochists have planned for tomorrows 07.35 Dover-Calais ferry,which would mean an 03.30/04.00hrs start for me: I'm not having that again so have booked a de-luxe suite at Mrs Miggins B & B for tonight so I get a nut-scratching 06.00 shower and 5 minute ride to the port. I've been to Arnhem before,lovely place,weather doesn't look fantastic but I'm sure it will be a great trip on the mighty KTM.(The ST2 is OTR for TLC and R&R....) POI suggestions welcomed as Sundays itinerary is tba at the moment. Shipping back Monday pm.
I went to Arnhem last year on my yearly scooter run. I visited the museum whilst there and leant a lot about the bridge and battle I never knew about before. It's excellent and you should visit if you get the chance. This year, it's back to Ypres with visits back to the Menin gate and Hill 62. A few weeks later I'm off to Normandy, which hopefully will be interesting as I've never been before.
Would recommend Paras museum and the cemetery pictured above.My visit really impressed upon me how much the locals appreciate the attempt at liberating them early via Market Garden,not unusual to see Para flags in gardens in the area plus the graves in the cemetery are allocated to kids in local schools who have the job for a year to look after and tend the grave. Nice area , enjoy
Home.Really good trip,weather was changeable most of the time,(we went a month earlier than last year,a mistake IMO),still very enjoyable though. Day one,(shipping out),all got a bit messy:traffic jam on the Antwerp ring road split the group,and without a planned rendezvous point most of us arrived at the hotel in ones and twos apart from a core of about five.Although the weather was pretty dire my advanced,(and probably illegal!) filtering in said jam got me to the Hotel first,I dumped my bags and headed straight back out to try and find the others.no joy there,but went to 3 of the historical locations anyway,Graves bridge etc. Beer not too dear,but petrol is now dearer than the UK at most stations.City centre hotel,(Holiday Inn Express),very handy for restaurants/bars etc. Day Two was Airborne Museum and Osterbeek Cemetery.The first was very popular,the second deserted.I won't spoil it for you if you go in the future,but as Nodrog says,it's recommended. Day 3 : Reichswald Allied cemetery near Kleve in Germany,(a beautiful,but sombre place,in lovely countryside): Ruhrmuseum zeche zollverein/Essen.Very interesting tracing the history of coal and steel production in the Ruhr valley.An opportunity to use my diabolical German language on the friendly guides...how we got on to the subject of restoring an Opel Kadett I still don't know though. Day 4 possibly the best display of military hardware I've ever seen,at Overloon.Loads of dioramas,super friendly staff,lovely grounds,(and beautiful weather....).I'll be going back as 4 hours is nowhere near long enough to do it justice. There were other smaller places,(don't miss the info centre on the Arnhem side of the bridge:worth it to speak to the volunteer chap who runs it.His jokes are awful but his love of the British and appreciation of their wartime efforts are plain.Note:he still doesn't care much for Germans,envies us our upcoming Referendum,and has much positive to say about keeping ones National currency). Day 5 was similar to day one,organising middle-aged blokes is like herding cats and although some of us rode back to Calais together poor comms meant that I got an earlier boat than planned,but only discovered some of the others were on it when we neared Dover. All of the Dutch folk I've ever met are lovely and seem to speak good English: similar with Germans although English speakers maybe not as common. I'm fairly certain most of us have been to Europe before,but if you haven't Holland is a good country to cut your teeth.
