Pieterpad 2006

Close to one o'clock, we arrived at the heart of the city of Gennep. No living being on the streets.

We vaguely remembered this place from last year, when we finished our Pieterpad 2005 section here; see gallery Pieterpad 2005.

Luckily, the hotel De Kroon was still open! There were even some guests enjoying themselves.

http://www.hoteldekroon.com
It's a nice hotel, certainly recommended. Looked as if it was recently renovated. Friendly, flexible, good quality, beautiful rooms. Our room had a golf theme!

Ludo (Mens-erger-je-niet) clearly had not been started yet!

Pieter is famous was for his slow start in the morning... Sure, he needs these cups of coffee.

Finally, we can start off from the market place of Gennep. From left to right: Alexander (Marjanne's boyfriend), Marjanne, Pieter himself, Heleen, Hanneke, Riet and Jaap (brother of Pieter). All ladies are sisters of Pieter.


The light area on the right side of the photo is probably the camera cord dangling before the lens.

Left? Where? Here?

Monique, Jaap and Kees during the warming up of the first day. Monique and Kees are friends of Marjanne.

Safety first! Hanneke volunteers to jump in front of the traffic and safely guide the family to the other side.

Kees found some soft green grass, and tried it out.

This very fat pig was happy to be behind a fence!

Julia made this wonderful photo of a flower. It's nice as a screen-saver.

Pieter explains to Alexander how to make a self-portrait.

After 25km, we finally reach the destination of the day: hotel Musschenberg in Beek. We reward ourselves with a few glasses of cold beer.


The best thing of this hotel was the breakfeast: fresh tomato juice.

7:17 am: we all enthousiastically strapped the backpacks to our backs and forgot about blisters (were there any?). After all, we had 34km of Pieterpad to cover that day.

So early, nothing had happened yet.

What the Netherlands looked like in the 1950's.

After a lot of green land, we reached the next settlement: Leuth. We were at the blue arrow, followed the yellow road and turned right. It's a shame the Pieterpad doesn't pass the village roundabout, where traffic from the Botsestraat, Binnenveld, Daamenstraat and Lieskes Wengs try to find a way past each other.

To cross the main waterways, these boats are very convenient. There are more than 200 of them in the Netherlands; small ones like this are only used by pedestrians and cyclists.

This boat is called the "There and Back IV".

We crossed the river just behind the Herkuless XII, which was on its way to Germany with 9600 tonnes of coal or ore.

The crossing of the river apparently was a good time for the feet to cry out for help.

A typical dutch dike with a cyclist on top of it.

Hanneke's feet are still growing. This was the only way out, literally.

For next year, Hanneke is considering sandals.

The dutch version of the witches'-broom.

A ladybird on a leaf looking for something.

NELISSE, IMMER GERADEAUS!

Who is responsible for all this?

Although the weather forecast promised us seven hours of sun, we did't see a single hour ot it. Julia doesn't mind too much.

After 34 very long kilometers, we were welcomed in hotel Mezzo in Braamt with a great and perfect dinner.

We recommend it! It is part of the Holland Hotels group, go to http://www.hollandhotels.nl/ and search under "Gelderland".

After a good night's sleep, Monique and Marjanne explore the garden. It's a quite nice garden actually, as well as the hotel itself.

We're gearing up for the last day: only 16km to Zelhem. A last look at hotel Mezzo.

A lapwing on its nest.

Alexander taking a deep look in or at something.

Hanneke explains what cosmetic surgery does to your face...

Jaap and Wim are approaching the finish line of this Pieterpad weekend. This time, it's in Zelhem.

One more meter...

YES!!!!!!!! YOU DID IT!!!!!! YOU ARE IN ZELHEM!!!

Dog with ice-tea. They're doing weird things in Zelhem.

The Pieterpad group of 2006, with family members of Pieter.

Front row, left to right:
Hanneke (sister), Jaap (brother), Jan (Riet's husband), Monique (friend of Marjanne), Kees (Monique's boyfriend).

Second:
Alexander (Marjanne's fiancé), Wim (Hanneke's husband), Pieter, Martin (Heleen's son), Heleen (sister), Riet (sister), Marjanne (sister).

back row:
Frank (son of Riet), Walter (son of Hanneke), Mattanja, Martijn (son of Riet) and Julia (Pieter's girl-friend).