DAY SEVEN IN HOLLAND

Wednesday, October 15th, 2025

Arnhem, The Netherlands

To date, this was our best day yet.  There was a solitude amongst the trees, mostly oak.  The terrain changed with more hills, but only after the plains, Ginkelse Heide, where British troops landed in 1944 via many parachutes.  Here, there were to trees.  The area is declared a nature preserve.  It was much more like a prairie.  Apparently, Polish troops also came to the area, another ally to advance against Hitler’s cause.

Interesting history!

In the same area, a mound nearly was the location of a sacred burial where was found a hunter’s remains from 2450-2000 BC.  That was a spot demarcating an ancient civilization. 

It was getting good. 

Our troupe of five covered many surfaces and earth textures – sand, dirt, leaves, mud, and asphalt.  Finally, we came to some woods again at Mariendall.  It was here that Williemsan, a journalist, joined us for that last few kilometres.  She had many questions and took what seemed like endless footage of us moving along on trails that reached the towns of Oosterbeck and Arnhem.  She was great fun and had previously visited our Hare Krishna community in Amsterdam.  We talked of bhakti, karma, dharma, and so on.

Our final stop was at marvellous restaurant run by a gracious Japanese woman, a devotee.  The place of fine food is called Atelier Giri.  We didn’t expect to have a welcome party too great in this place neatly tucked away next to the Rhine River, a body of water I always wanted to see.  

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

30,482 FOOTSTEPS (20 km)