A Weekend in Arnhem

August 1 - 3, 2003

Last May, Will's class at school took a 6-day trip to Arnhem in the Netherlands. He had such a wonderful time that we decided to take a family trip there, and to let him be our tour guide. Arnhem is in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, about 1 1/2 hours east of Amsterdam. If you have seen the movie A Bridge too Far, which is about the failed Allied attempt to take control of the Rhine, this is one of the cities that the Allies were trying to liberate. Today it is a wonderful vacation getaway for families.

On Friday night we stayed at the Alteveer Hostel, where Will stayed in May. For the rest of us, this was our first hostel. If all hostels are like this, we will be hosteling much more often! Very clean, safe, comfortable and affordable. No television or telephone in the room (which Kevin and I prefer.) It's not the Hilton, but in many ways it is more fun because you have the opportunity to meet adventurers from all over the world. Unfortunately, we were just there for the night and breakfast, and then we had to check out because they were full for Saturday night.

We spent Saturday at the Burger Zoo. This is one of the best zoos we have ever visited. Fantastic exhibits, active animals, and a fun playground. They have a great safari area with a raised wooden platform from which we could observe African animals with lots of space for roaming. The ocean, rainforest, and dessert exhibits were impressive. Below on the left Kevin checks out an old jeep-type vehicle that might have been from WWII, rusting in the rainforest exhibit. On the right we pose for a photo in front of a memorial to the man who started the zoo.

Saturday evening we drove to our hotel, which was in Delden,  an hour east of Arnhem. We stayed at the Carelshaven, which was in a rural area (note the cows outside our window). After a wonderful dinner at their restaurant, we went for a walk and Ellen found some striking flowers in their gardens.

On Sunday we drove back to Arnhem to visit the Hoge Veluwe National Park. After a visit to the Underground Museum (which shows what lies under your feet), we rode bikes to the Kroller-Muller museum, which has a fantastic sculpture garden and a world-class collection of Van Gogh's paintings. On the right and below is one of the most interesting sculptures we've experienced.

Ellen and I enjoyed seeing the modernistic version of the Little Dancer on the far left (reminiscent of Dega's Little Dancer we've seen at the Tate in London and at the Orsay in Paris.) What a treat to get to make these connections.

Arnhem offers much more than we could see in one weekend. The Dutch are very hospitable and friendly. It is a very easy place to visit and provides great, relaxing fun for kids and parents.

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