We left Giethoorn around midday on Sunday, September 6 after a delightful wander around the town, even getting a chance to do some food shopping. Shopping in The Netherlands is a bit tricky as not many supermarkets have large car parks and many Dutch seem to do theirs by bike! Anyway, we travelled for around 100 minutes to the small town of Otterlo in the Hoge Veluwe National Park. We found a site called Camping de Bosrand (P4N#452240) that was a tiny site with just 20 places but we managed to book one night with them. It was perfect for us as we could then cycle to the National Park to visit the Kroller-Muller Museum. It holds the largest collection of Van Gogh in the world with over 90 paintings and drawings. It also had a wonderful sculpture garden. We managed to do the whole thing before it closed at 17.00. Back to the van for pre dinner drinks and a meal.

The next morning, we had to move on so we opted to drive the few miles to Oosterbeek where there was a museum on the Battle of Arnhem in WWII. Many of you will be familiar with the film, A Bridge Too Far, which was all about Operation Market Garden. This was an airborne drop involving 30,000 men behind enemy lines in September 1944 after D Day. General Montgomery thought it would shorten the war. Instead, it was a disaster with 17,000 killed or wounded and 6,500 taken prisoner. The museum at Oosterbeek was in Hartenstein House, the same house that became the Allied HQ during this operation and it was a fascinating insight into the battle. The immersive experience in the basement was particularly impressive. We also had visited the War Cemetery just outside the town before visiting the museum.

We then moved onto our campsite for the night just outside of Arnhem, Camping Warnsborn (P4N#142580). It was another small campsite and again close to the National Park but at the southern end so it was another site in the woods.

Once settled we cycled into Arnhem itself to see the John Frost Bridge (of A Bridge Too Far fame).

All over town, the flag of the 101st Airborne Division was being flown in commemoration of the battle. Considering Arnhem was pretty much razed to the ground by the Germans during and after the battle, the local people didn’t seem to hold a grudge against us.

Back to the van again for beers in the sun before dinner on board.

Miles since last blog: 80

Miles this trip: 373