River Cruise 2015 - The Last Post! Zaltbommel, Wageningen, and Arnhem - May 5, 2015

I'm finally getting the blogs from our River Cruise finished!  Our last day was certainly one of our most memorable and moving days!  May 5 is celebrated all over the Netherlands as being the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the occupation by Nazi Germany was ended - largely by the First Canadian Army.  And do they ever love us Canadians!  What a treat to be able to celebrate with them on this 70th anniversary!  AND to be able to celebrate it in the "City of Liberation", Wageningen, where the German Commander-in-Chief, Johannes Blaskowitz was brought at gunpoint to sign the agreement which was reached with Canadian General Charles Foulkes the day before.  It is always a celebration, but every 5 years it is an especially BIG celebration, and this was one of those years. 

After a lovely morning cruise, we docked in Zaltbommel, a city that is over 1000 years old.

 

The gangplank was lowered, and we had a bit of time to tour the town before lunch. 

And what a lovely town it is! 

Paul and Barb Rusk, a new friend from Cobourg, walk into the downtown area through this old gateway.  May 5 is a national holiday in the Netherlands, so there was nothing open that day.  It seems we often toured towns on Sundays or holidays - didn't have a lot of shopping time.  Oh well, there was no room in the suitcase anyway. 

Barb posing with some McCain's "frites". 

The Da Vinci proudly flying the Canadian flag! 

Bevrijdingsdag - Liberation Day in Wageningen - and we were so privileged to have chairs saved for us right at the beginning of the parade!  This was the first truck through! 

 

A Canadian band with a great many walking soldiers following behind. 

We were not told, but I wondered if this little guy's dad had died in action somewhere and he was marching in Dad's hat.  Just wondering..... he was all by himself.

We saw a LOT of Canadian flags that day! 

This Belgium flag has the same colours as the German flag, except the stripes are vertical, and the German flag's stripes are horizontal. 

Paul just really liked this old vehicle. 

Fort Garry Horse Regiment represented. 

There had to be at least 100 kids in this band!  And although it is called a teen band, there were some kids who didn't look that old!  They sure represented our country well! 

The parade stopped for awhile with these kids right in front of us.  They were amazing! 

There were several fly-bys of old planes during the parade, but unfortunately, most of them were behind the trees for us.  There's a 4th plane to the left. 

Because we were obviously Canadians, flying lots of flags and all, this was the sort of reception we received from everyone in the parade! 

The Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band. 

Canadian Veterans marching.  There were quite a few veterans on the plane going home with us the next day, and they were treated with a great deal of respect by KLM Airlines as well. 

Well that's it for this trip.  Thanks for enjoying it with us.


....until next time....