Where oh Where Wednesday: the town where we live

When I put my return address to paper or answer someone as to where we live, I name the town of Lanaken. But Lanaken is actually 7 different towns or villages all combined back in the years just before we moved here. The largest town is Lanaken itself, a town of some 11,000 inhabitants. But we actually live in the small village of Neerharen. 

Neerharen is the opposite village of “Opharen” on the other side of the river which is a short 500 meters from our back door. The river has ever been the border between the Netherlands and Belgium - at least as long as Belgium has existed. “Op” means above and “Neer” means below. So our village was the vial leg below the river. The other one received a castle at some point and so has become “Borgharen” and is a neighborhood of the city of Maastricht now. 

Our village can be found on maps of Napoleon when he was taking parts of Europe over, bringing some semblance of formal administration with him. The house across from us is from the 19th century and the castle to which our street would lead (if the canal did not cut across it) has elements from the 13th century. So this place has been around for some time. 

The village north of us, which is still part of the conglomerate of Lanaken, is called “Rekem”, although it used to be “Reckheim”. It had even been its own little city with city rights. The castle which housed the lord at the time has been a psychiatric hospital and now serves tourists. The village south of us, Smeermaas, is where the border crosses in fromt of the river bringing everyone into the next country. Both of these villages are where the stores are situated that we use in our daily lives. Our village has a butcher and some restaurants, but no real stores. 

Neerharen does have what some call the Gold Coast. As I explained recently to a visitor from Kenya, it is along this Gold Coast, on the other side of the main road splitting the village, that the truly rich people live. Of course, even the houses on our side of the village were more than large enough to count as a Gold Coast for him. 

The canal behind our house, built in the 1920’s, has bunkers from WWII as a reminder of a more terrible time. The canal itself carries boats ferrying goods from the harbor of Antwerpen to the harbor of Rotterdam and everywhere in between. The provincial road which cuts through the village used to be a tramway carrying passengers and goods from Maastricht to Maasmechelen and further. 

We are thankful for the place we have been able to live and bring up our family while also sharing the truth and joy of living with Jesus. We have good neighbors in a quiet neighborhood full of history. It is a small place surrounded by busy life on all sides. 

(The picture is of our boys, when they were boys, playing in our street.)

Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Today is a 5th Wednesday so I want to take you on a different kind of trip. The Netherlands is a country where the bicycle is more than welcome. Bike paths are everywhere in the cities and kids ride bikes from very early ages - even goin on their own to school across town. 

Admittedly, where we live in Belgium is not as bike friendly, but it is better than many places in Belgium - maybe because so many Dutch people live here. And although there is plenty of infrastructure for the bike, I must admit that I do noot use it as often as I might. But on a Thursday, I like to take the bike to my colleague, Ruud’s, house for our Bible study together. 

Ruud lives in the village on the other side of our “town” which population 13,500. Our village has about 1700 people. Ruud’s village is bigger with 3200. From our village to Ruud I can bike along a whole section free of the major road running North/South. Right out my driveway I simply bike to the paved road running along the canal which runs behind our house. 

I pass by two locks along the canal, passing a building supplies company on the right and a cellulose factory across the canal on the left. The road on the canal ends as I approach the local paper making company, Sappi (a South African company) where I have to turn right and climb a hill to join the main road. Thankfully I have a pedal assisted bike. Otherwise I would be walking this part of the trip. 

Up on the road I am able to bike on good bike paths, crossing the Albert Canal (which leads to Antwerp) on a bridge with plenty of space for cars, bikes and pedestrians. From this point I have a nice ride up a slight incline until I can coast all the way from the plateau into Ruud’s village. The journey takes me about 20-30 minutes (depending on how tired I am or how sweaty I want to get). 

After the study (we are looking at the book of Acts with E who is considering what it means to be a Christian), I can bike home, climbing the long hill I previously came down with such ease. But last week I decided to get some things done in the “city” - in Maastricht. 

From Ruud’s house I can bike right across the border, which is not really even recognizable as a border. You cross a bridge (crossing the Albert Canal again - this time the section going South to Liege) and bike along a mountain on the right. This is what some might call a mountain. I am from Colorado. It is a hill. Still, they have a ski hill on it in the winter. There is also a golf course here. 

Biking further into the city I pay attention to the right-of way. I am on a bike path, but just like any other traffic participant, I have to follow the rules. At intersections there are clear signs for who has right-of-way. “Shark’s teeth” (a line of triangles with the points toward the rider) painted on the bike path show that I must yield. At other points along this route, the red brick color of the bike path continues without any signs and the cars have the shark’s teeth. 

After passing the hill and golf club I come to a stoplight. There is a light specifically for the bicycles as well as pedestrians and cars. At this intersection there is also a light for the bus. Moving on when I get my green light I next approach a very large roundabout or rotunda. I have to yield here and also pay attention to the many “brommers” or scooters taking the bike path with me. 

These days there are all sorts of vehicles on the road. Back along the canal we always have top be aware of cyclists who are training. You know, Tour de France types on very skinny wheels flying by. They often do not have bells - and when they do, they do not always use them. So you have to simply be aware and be ready to get out of the way. 

But there is now also every kind of electrified vehicle. “Speed pedelecs” are VERY fast electric bikes. They can easily pass you going more than 50kmh. Then there are “scootmobiles”, used usually by older people out for a jaunt in the open air. Most often four-wheeled, they also silently sneak up on you with their older driver enjoying the speed of the electrified motor vehicle. 

Besides all of these vehicles, you may also end up with a mother pushing her baby buggy, or simply some pedestrians not wanting to walk on the sidewalk. But it seems most people get along just fine and the traffic is much safer than I have ever experienced in the States. During this trip I easily made it to my destination in downtown Maastricht. 

I needed to stop at the store, so I quickly parked the bike at the bike rack, fixed the lock and putting the key in my pocket (and taking my battery with me) walked into the store. You ALWAYS want to lock your bike in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, there is a sort of saying: Lost your bike? No worries, just take the next one. While not everyone does this (and locks have gotten better), it is always good to keep your bike locked, even If you are quickly running into the store. 

As I leave the store, I walk my bike among the many pedestrians, listening to the many languages of the tourist who have come to Maastricht on this sunny day. I next want to visit an acquaintance in a nearby nursing home and afterwards turn my bike homewards. 

The whole trip will only cost me 30-40 minutes. It would be about the same if I were to take the car, because of traffic. I have often passed a bike only to have them pass me by as I am stuck in the traffic jam. This time I am the one passing the waiting cars. I bike back along the Meuse, amazed at how low the water is these days. You could probably cross the river on foot. 

This route takes me between the river and the canal. I cross the border back into Belgium in Smeermaas (another village that makes up our “town” - there are 7 of them) and ride further along the river. This section is beautiful - riding behind our local castle, past the wild cows that live here to keep the shrubbery in check, past the nests of the blue herons in the tops of the trees along the river. 

I get back home and haven’t even broken a sweat. Then I climb off my bike and realize that I have been exerting myself. That slight breeze always helps. But now the heat hits. Time for a cool glass of water and a sit in the shade before going into the house (where it is a sweltering 90 F). But it has been a good day and I am glad that it is so easy to get around on a bicycle. 

To give an idea of what it is like along this ride, here are a few video’s which are already online. 

This video is a walking tour, but it shows you the area along our canal. In fact, from 00:37 - 1:17 you can see our lock and the church in our village (our house is just down the street fro this church building). 

In this video (TURN OFF THE SOUND to skip the rude music) shows you the border crossing in Smeermaas, what the bike paths look like and what traffic is like along the canal and in Maastricht. 

Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Today is a 5th Wednesday, a special Wednesday in our rotation. So we are going to take a quick trip along some wild and wonderful places near where we live. 

As we walk out our backyard and through the gate at the end of the yard, we come to the road running along the canal behind our house. Turning left we can enjoy the canal, watching the rowing club training: men’s and women’s, 2-man, 4-man and 8-man boats. A few hundred yards down the road we take a curvy left which then curves back right and passes by a WWII bunker where American and Belgian soldiers fought, very briefly. 

Past the bunker we cross the canal on a bridge leading us to the river, the Meuse. To the right is a nature park where we can see beavers, swine, deer, Scottish cows (put there to keep things maintained) and all sorts of waterfowl, including blue heron high up in the trees. But today we will turn right and head along the river. 

This past summer the river flooded to the levels from back in 1995 - even though the river has been broadened to make flooding less likely. Now the river is well returned to her banks and we pass a whole colony of swans. Down along the water we can see some Polish Konik horses grazing and drinking. 

As we turn back from the river we cross another bridge over the canal and watch a boat ply its way north to the Netherlands, maybe even going as far as Rotterdam harbor. Looking ahead from the bridge we see the towers of the castle in Rekem (previously called Rekheim). This castle first served as home to a baron. The barony, established in the 14th century, had its own coinage, toll rights, army and court of justice. In 1778 the family left the barony and castle and it became a house of “care” for beggars and those without work - a work house. 

After Belgium gained its independence (1830), the castle remained a beggars house until in 1920 it was turned into a psychiatric hospital. The local people for decennia would call it the crazy house. In 1970 the psychiatric hospital moved to a new location in the woods where it can be found today. 

The castle was sold in 2003 to a company which renovated it all and is making residential units. So if one desires, one can live in a castle in this “Most picturesque village in Flanders” (a prize the village won in 2008). 

If we were to take a longer walk, we could cross the major street and head towards Pietersheim, a castle ruin from the 12th century with moat and all. Next to the ruin is a hotel “castle” (more a big, fancy house). The park is a wonderful walk with the dog or children or just to take a run. But today we will just head on home for a good cup of coffee. 

If you would like to see more, check out some of the pictures of where we live.