I haven't booked the flights yet, but now that we won't have to do the quarantine we will probably arrive back there sometime between August 12th and the 16th. The estate auction at Ruth's father's house is on August 21st and we want to be there in time to help get ready for that.
If it weren't for seeing family, we'd rather not go back at all. It's going to be an expensive trip. Air fares to fly across the ocean are always higher in summer, and there haven't been any deals. I did find one good price from Paris to Montreal, but the hassle of getting to Paris first and then from Montreal to Ottawa wouldn't be worth it. I expect we'll just bite the bullet and go from Dusseldorf to Ottawa with a couple of connections.
And then getting a car is going to be expensive. There is a shortage of car rentals out there and they are currently wanting around $50 a day, with no discounts for monthly rentals. We are going to put the word out to our Ottawa area friends to see if anybody knows of a private vehicle we can rent off the books. Maybe I'll just buy something and sell it when we're done with it.
And, we're going to have to pay for accommodation for the first time! Of course normally we stay at Ruth's dad's house which we will be doing up until the auction. But after the auction, it will (hopefully) be empty. So we'll have to find an Airbnb for probably five weeks. And in Ottawa area that's not going to be cheap. I'm also going to look and see if there are any house sitting possibilities for at least part of that time.
But in the meantime, we still have lots of exploring to do here in Netherlands.
Yesterday, we went and wandered around Arnhem. The first thing we came across was a bunch of farm tractors right downtown!
Big demonstration.
We spoke to a couple of guys to find out what was going on. Apparently the government is telling the farmers they need to stop using so much nitrogen and fertilizer and they need to be more aware of the environment. The farmers are telling the government that Netherlands farmers are already in the top countries around the world when it comes to environmental concerns and they can't do any more.
I read a news article online, and there's a little more to it. In my opinion, it comes down to the fact that there are simply too many people in the world.
Old between new.
St. Eusebius church.
Interesting story about this church.
The original church was built between 1450 and 1550. But it was severely damaged during WWII, and rebuilt between 1946 and 1960. But the rebuilt church was quite different from the original, so really this church may look old, but most of it only dates back to 1960!
In 1945.
What a shame.
More recently, they have installed a tourist elevator that goes up to a viewpoint with a modern glass observation deck.
Lots of interesting little statues.
Ruth, at the front entrance.
The organ is fairly impressive.
There is constant renovation and repair going on.
It's a real shame. From the outside, the building and the tower are impressive. But inside, it's not even used as a church anymore. They installed the elevator in 1994 and it costs a ridiculous €11 ($16.30 CAD, $13 USD) each to go to the viewing deck. No thanks. The ground floor was free and is currently being used to show off some weird modern art.
Another church.
One of the few buildings that survived the war.
Lots of pedestrian streets downtown.
Nice park.
Fountains that are actually working.
Another older building.
We walked through to the north part of the city where there is a big beautiful park.
We stopped in to pick up a few groceries on the way back to Max. I had read that most grocery stores in Netherlands do NOT accept credit cards. But I forgot this tidbit of information until I went to pay and the cashier reminded me. We were due to get some more cash anyhow and our bill was €18 and we only had €15 with us so I had to run to an ATM while Ruth waited with the groceries.
Back at Max we decided to stay a second night parked by the river. There is still more we want to see in the city of Arnhem.
Beautiful sunset last night.
We both felt a little off yesterday due to the vaccination. We took it easy and only walked 8 kms (5 miles) or so. Both feeling fine so far this morning though, other than both of us have a sore shoulder now.
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And in Canada...
My daughter flies to Iceland and then across to Europe...she says it's cheaper.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it can be, and in fact we did that once because it was. But for our dates right now it's a lot more expensive.
DeleteI think you hit the nail on the head, too many people... Mother Nature is getting testy.
ReplyDelete