It was raining like crazy overnight and the this morning as we had breakfast before leaving and grabbed a couple of extra rolls to hep get thro lunchtime. I have mentioned previously we had intended to stay in Cologne but what with a Digital Festival taking place all the Hotels were full or overpriced and we did think that staying in Sittard we could visit Cologne for the day however in reality this was not sensible what with all the extra travel and car parking issues etc.
To get to our next Hotel which was on the outskirts of Utrecht we could take the autobahn, motorway whatever and would be there in two hours but then we would have to drive behind trucks kicky out spray and people going to fast and so then lets go via the country roads which would take double the time but far more interesting. On going Nijmegen we noticed lot of new houses and large estates being built but we found them quite ugly and boxy and generally very unattractive as far as were were concerned. Then on to Arnhem and then we came across a large amount of troops parachuting on to a large open area from about four Hercules aircraft, we could not stop due to the traffic and guessed they were either USA troops or British but there were quite a lot of watchers standing by and and also quite a few military vehicles.
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On the internet tonight I have tried to find out what was the occasion and the only thing that I can find is that on 14 Sept 1944 the Invasion troops began taking back this area of Holland from the Germans.
We arrived at the Hotel around 1600 , again its a Doubletree at a place called Soestduinen which is on the outskirts of Utrecht and apart from being a Hotel its has a spa and swimming pool which also looks nice in the photos but which we will explore tomorrow hopefully. We checked in to the Hotel and had an early dinner in the restaurant overlooking the golf course. If its dry and nice tomorrow we can either sit on our Hotel balcony or in front of the restaurant, either would be nice to pass the day..jpg)
Doubletree Golf Hotel
Now when typing this we are watching on BBC TV the events of delivery the Queens coffin to Westminster abbey and also the pomp that went with it, I must say that Charles as the new King seems to be coping extremely well and full marks to him.
Finally I have lots of photos to sort out and add to my on line albums and may attempt this tomorrow if I get time and the inclination as we think swimming might be the priority.
