The rain came back at night and didn't look like stopping. It was a good time to move on! We really can’t complain. The weather in the Netherlands has been quite good over the last two weeks.

As we reached our 3-hour cruising tolerance, the only decent mooring for our boat size was on the waiting pontoon of the WS Wagingen, but another boat had already tied up there. To our surprise, the harbour master waved us closer and urged us to wait. We didn’t know what was happening, but it looked like an argument between him and the people on that boat. Eventually, they left, and we were waved into their spot. It turned out that the people couldn’t decide whether to stay or go and made unreasonable demands, so the harbour master told them to leave. After hearing that, we didn’t feel so bad about taking their mooring.

The next day, we arrived in Arnhem. From the water, the town looked quite industrial and not so appealing. The two yacht harbours close to the centre are situated within a commercial harbour, and big barges were coming and going. Further along, several river cruise boats were double and triple-moored along the quay. They seemed to be out of commission.  Due to Lodi’s substantial girth (4.3 m), we were too wide for a mooring box and could tie up conveniently direct onto the pontoon along the harbour office and shower block.

For the first time this season, I got my bicycle out, and Austin hopped on his scooter for the 2km ride to the centre. We passed under the "John Frost Bridge", the primary site of the "Battle of Arnhem".

In September 1944, an airborne landing operation called “Market Garden” dropped  British parachutists near the towns of Arnhem, Nijmegen and Eindhoven to stop the Germans from crossing the river and to defend the bridge. Their Polish allies joined them soon after. The Germans immediately attacked from all sides. Of 10,000 British parachutists, only 750 made it to the bridge, where, after heavy fighting, 81 more soldiers died. They finally had to surrender, and Major General John Frost was taken prisoner together with the rest of his battalion. The small Airborne Museum on the Rhine promenade overlooks the John Frost Bridge and tells the story of the tragic 9-day battle with significant losses to both sides. 

Across the road, the Sabelspoort (Sabel Gate) is the entrance to the old town centre. At one time, it also served as a prison and “Mad House.” As we approached the gate, we heard a booming noise accompanied by cheering and clapping, then total silence, followed by another salve of clapping and cheering. The noise came from a fenced-off area in the marketplace, where the Quarter Final of the European Beach Volleyball Championship was taking place.

While I had a little peek at the big screen showing the German volleyball team playing Norway, Austin headed straight to the weekly market’s fish stall for another serving of raw herring. 

The massive Sint-Eusebius Church, overtowering the market square and surrounding area, is an impressive gothic structure with a massive tower. Oddly, there are several artworks on the outer walls and forecourt in the shape of sperms and other micro-organisms. The church, we learned, is a museum now, and the artwork was installed after its last restoration in 2023. The theme represents "the beginning of all things” - not an old testament theme, we thought.

However, one needs faith to step out off the 7th floor of the 93m church tower and onto one of two glass balconies. From there one can see another art oddity: looking upwards straight into the faces of Donald Duck and his Disney friends. Once I recovered from my fear of heights and the strange gargoyles, I could enjoy the far-reaching views over the city and beyond. The crypt of Sint Eusebius contains many relics of the original construction and restorations of the church, as well as bones from church grave sites stacked on top of each other. A fascinating video pictogram shows the many knockdowns, fires, reconstructions and church additions since it was built in the 15th century.

Across from the church stands the 16th-century residence of Duke Charles II of Gelre, who ruled over the province and brought prosperity to the city. The facade's eerie satyr ornaments have inspired many regional folktales and the building’s name:  “Devil’s House.”

Our town walk brought us to Sonsbeek Park, a lovely area with an old Grain Mill and a Water Museum. The Museum is interactive and a great place for young and old to learn about all aspects of the effects of water, or lack thereof, and its preservation. 

Although many shops were closed on Sunday, the town centre was quite busy with tourists, locals, and street performers. After browsing interesting shops, we escaped to our quiet yacht harbour's deck for a late afternoon drink.

Leaving Arnhem, we turned into the main Ijssel and were pushed nicely along by a 5km/h current until we arrived at the former industrial harbour of Doesburg. Doesburg is one of six former Hanseatic towns along the river. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, trade in West and North Europe increased greatly, and safe trading and shipping routes along waterways were essential. So merchants created a trading group called “Hansa”, with more than 150 member towns at its peak. Later, when trade with the Far East and the United States became more appealing, the towns along the Ijssel lost their importance. The Hanseatic activities shifted towards harbour cities on the North Sea.

Doesburg has a nice centre with many Hanseatic merchant houses, residual buildings of an old abbey, and the usual central marketplace. In front of the old town hall is a large round bluestone. In the 18th century, a rotating cage was mounted on the stone where women of ill repute received their punishment.

Trades in Doesburg included silver smithery, textiles, coffee roasting, glass art, and mustard production. There is a museum for each of these trades and a toy museum with antique toys. 

We walked through the Museum of the "Doesburg Mustard". A film shows the old-fashioned way of making mustard, as it is still done in the small factory next to the museum: A mix of brown and yellow mustard seeds is placed into a wooden vat and topped up with vinegar, a little wine, lemon juice, and spices for 24 hours. It is then put through a press and filled into glasses. Easy, peasy! They also have a display of lovely little earthernware and porcelain mustard pots!

The next day, we cut the mustard and passed a very tricky eddy into the small harbour entrance of Zutphen. Boaties, beware: you need to enter from upstream and keep close to port, as the eddy pushes you strongly to the starboard side! 

Zutphen on the Ijssel is another former Hanseatic city. It is one of the nicest cities we have seen in the Netherlands! Most of the city has been preserved, including the old town wall and the guard towers. One 4m thick defence tower near the Ijssel was originally built to ward off the French. However, when the French arrived, the town yielded without much resistance.

The other remaining towers are from a time when bows and arrows were used. That is why they were spaced no more than 67m apart. 

Many of the 15th, 16th, and 17th-century houses have their own vivid stories, and so does the old Civic Hall, or “Burgerzaal”! No burgers were sold here, but the hall was originally a meat market and later served as an inspection place for perishables. Today, town meetings and weddings are held there. You have to love the wooden ceiling, built like an upside-down Dutch boat.

The town has six churches. The largest of them is the Walburgiskerk, now a museum. It contains a 16th-century "chained library" with books by Copernicus and Erasmus. The old books are actually attached to the bookcases by a chain.

One of the other churches, the Broederenkerk, contains the public library. In many Dutch cities, some old churches have now been repurposed as cafés, bookstores, exhibition places and libraries. 

The social system in the Netherlands is quite admirable. Even in the olden days, the Dutch looked after the poor, the widows, the orphans and the disabled. The proof is the many “Hofjes”. They are courtyards with beautiful gardens surrounded by small cottages. If not sponsored by the churches, they were donated or willed by rich merchants and factory owners with strict instructions for their use.

The stipulations for living at the “Ruitershofje, e.g. were: “for widows, single women and couples of fifty years, of protestant faith and with proof of an exemplary life”. In some towns, there are also “Old Men Houses”. Obviously, there were no concerns about political correctness or gender awareness in those times! The little cottages in these hofjes still house mostly single women and the more needy people of society. We have also noticed that there are very few homeless people and beggars in the Netherlands.

In the middle of town, on the Hout Market, stands the tall bell tower called “Wijnhuistoren”. The adjoining wijnhuis was the place where the town dignitaries received and entertained guests. In the dark past, it was also the place for corporal punishments. The tower, which was added later, has 47 bells, and the city’s carillonneur gives a concert every Thursday morning.

Many nice terrace cafés, restaurants, shops and a couple of hair salons are around the square and in the adjoining lanes. 

One of our objectives on the day was to get our hair cut professionally after we had several goes at it ourselves. The hairdressers of the salon we entered were from Iran and welcomed us warmly with a cup of coffee. Austin was first off the mark, and his hairdresser was polite enough, not to mention the butcher's job I had done on his head previously. Then it was my turn. I was a little worried when the female hairdresser started to work on the back hairline with an electric hair clipper. She then changed to a feathering razor, yanking on random bunches of hair. I felt like a chicken being plucked! No scissors were used in the whole process, but, to my astonishment, the hair looked good when I finally dared to look in the mirror.

But I needed to de-stress. And what can I say: another day-another applecake!

The next morning, the fast-flowing Ijssel took us in no time to the small town of Hattem, where a mighty wind with 65-70km gusts was blowing. But the harbour entry was wide, and the harbour mistress and a couple of Dutchmen from the previous port, who had arrived before us, were ready to catch our ropes. We had just tied up when the clipboard of the helpful harbour mistress with all her paperwork took off in a gust of wind and sailed along in the water. Our hooks and long-handle nets could not reach it, so finally, an 82-year-old sailor rowed a tender up to it and retrieved the clipboard. As a thank you he got a kiss from the harbour mistress.

After this unexpected excitement, we headed into town. The wind was still strong, and every 15 minutes, the weather changed from rain showers to sunny break and back again. This didn’t deter us from walking through town and over the dyke along the former moat, also called “Little Gracht”, where people living on the dyke have established pretty hobby gardens along the water. Finally, the wind calmed down, and the clouds parted. We decided to enjoy the evening sun and stay in town for an early dinner. Next to the town's working windmill, we found a lovely café-restaurant with chairs in the sun and excellent wood-fired pizza.

The Hattem Bakery Museum was on the agenda for the next morning. The lovely museum was packed with families on a Saturday and still during the school holidays. The museum's visit included a show with the very entertaining Master Baker, who had kids and adults in stitches. Unfortunately, everything was in Dutch, but we got the gist of it. From a ball of dough, he made a face that talked and legs that skipped along and created rabbits, swans and bird nests. Later all the kids tried themselves in making gingerbread men, which were put in the oven and handed back to them 10 minutes later freshly baked.

The museums of well-known artists van Voerman and Anton Pieck are also in Hattem. We opted for the Anton Pieck Museum, whose illustrations of fairytales bring back childhood memories. Pieck drew and painted in diverse media, from crayon and charcoal to watercolour, oils and aquarelles. His romantic paintings of life in Holland are full of detail and activity. He also travelled widely through Europe and North Africa. In a video, taken after the museum was opened, he showed his grandkids around and talked about the thrill of having his own museum in Hattem. He was 89 years old then. A modest man, he commented: 

"I know a lot of people who have achieved more in their lives than I did but never received a word of appraisal. When I compare myself to them, I feel like a spoiled Sunday child". 

He never expected his recognition to last. Now, 40 years later, the museum is still going strong.

At night, another storm front moved through the harbour with thunder, lightning, and pelting rain. We had seen it coming and battened down the hatches in time for its arrival. The good thing was that it washed off all the bird excrement and debris from Lodi's roof and bow! One job less to do! Phew!