Nijmegen, emphasis on the Midieval

7657 This is the synagogue from the 1700s or early 1800s.  I love the way they've done the trim and shaped the windows.  Classic.

7687 Can you spot the weed shop?  At least the sign is low key.

7696 The Old Brewer's Guild House.  This is a classic building from the age.  From the half shutters to the heraldic emblems, beautiful. 

7700 D and the girls on the main square.  The young Dutch are very friendly, the older ones, not so much until you get an introduction.  Seems like that's the same in many countries.

 

April 10 – Arnhem-Nijmegen, The Netherlands PM.  Today we are continuing the tour of the area with a visit to Nijmegen, another city involved in the Battle for Arnhem.  I took us 3 hours to sail from Arnhem and some of the paratroopers had to walk it in full gear.  Not an easy task. 

 

We walked off the ship practically in the center of town.  We were met there my our local guides as we are going to be split into smaller groups for the walking tour of the city.  Our guide was a lady with the quick stride that most of the Dutch seem to have.  She slowed down a bit when she saw that some of the older folks were struggling to keep up. 

 

Nijmegen was another of the Dutch Golden Age trading cities.  Some of the houses are still decorated with statues of the exotic animals that were either brought or told about by the sailors who went on the ships.  One house had a small bronze elephant on the corner of the second floor.  While walking on the narrow cobbled streets we came upon a Synagogue built in the 1700s.  The building was made from brick but the windows were the highlight.  Each 12 pane window had a semi-circular opening above it with the Star of David in glass panes.  Near the peak of the front façade there's a trefoil window with a single Star of David at the center.  The circle motif was echoed along the edge of the roof with half circle figures culminating in a ¾ circle at the gable.  The red brick and the white woodwork made for a very simple but impressive look.

 

In some areas you can still see the remnants of the Roman wall around the city.  We cut through the local college campus.  On the green, students were sitting and laying out enjoying the sunshine.  We're told it has been gloomy here for a while.  I guess we're bringing the sun with us as we have had a run of very good weather since we left the USA in late December.  Right on the corner of the green there's a marijuana shop.  Apparently they had so much trouble with 'doper' tourists that they tried to introduce a 'weed' card so only locals could buy it.  This created street vendors who would sell to anyone.  Since eliminating the problem with pushers was the flawed rational for legalizing pot in the first place, the 'weed' card was done away with and now anyone can buy again.  Just Wonderful!  (Those of you who know me well can since the sarcasm in that last comment.  For those of you who don't, I think it's anything but wonderful.)

 

Through a surviving gate from the medieval city wall we entered the main square.  Here there are cafes, shops and a beautiful medieval building, the old brewer's guild hall.  Lots of students here as well.  Some pretty young ladies were gathered around the base of a statue and D went over to talk to them.  In a few minutes she came back and asked me to take their picture.  D will talk to anyone and just about everyone will talk to her.  Of course tucked in with the cafes and the botiques there's a McDonald's.  Everybody usually bad mouths them but whenever I pass one in a foreign country, it's packed.