Maas River --Cruising thru Dutch Countryside to Nijmegen

This morning's view as we awoke was lush pastoral scenes --contented cows grazing in meadows of dark green clover, beautiful horses chasing one another nearby and ducks swimming in the Maas River. I think I'll start an index of the world's happiest cows. In addition to Holland the other leading contenders would be Normandy and New Zealand's Northern Island. We cruised all morning -- just relaxing and enjoying the scenery after several busy days of sightseeing. Holland is actually only the southern part of The Netherlands whose name comes from the Dutch words neder = low, land = country.

We did manage to get enough energy to attend a very informative lecture on the Golden Age of Dutch Artists given by Mary, one of 3 outstanding Tauck Directors on board. The 17th century was the height of Dutch influence in trade, science and art. Artists from this era included Rembrandt and Van Gogh. We will be seeing some of their works tomorrow.



We docked right at the city center of Nijmegen(one of the two oldest cities in Holland --the other being Maastricht) and strolled into town after lunch. This is another charming city that I should have heard of but hadn't. It was founded on the Waal River, a branch of the Rhine, in the first century by the Romans and still contains ruins from this period. Charlemage loved staying here and built a castle where the Valkof Museum built in the 18th century still remains. Other sites include St Stevenskerk, a 14th-century Carolingian chapel.

Unfortunately, the city became a strategic battle area in the European theater of WW II when it was bombarded by Americans in February 1944. By September it was still in the midst of heavy fighting during the Battle of Arnhem. Although a lot of the beautiful medieval structures were destroyed, enough remained to give us a visual image of what life was like in the Middle Ages. The photo is of the Grotes Markt in the center of the city.

Tonight we cruise to Arnhem.
Linda