Hanzestedenpad part 1 & 2

Hanzestedenpad – part 1
Doesburg-Dieren (16km)

Butch and I started with the Hanzestedenpad. A walk of 164 km along the River IJssel and through seven ancient towns (like Zutphen, Deventer, Zwolle en Kampen) which belonged to the Hanze. The Hanzeatic league also known as Hanze was an economic alliance of trading cities and their guilds. They established and maintained a trade monopoly. It started in 1159 in Lübeck at the Baltic Sea and later covered the North Sea and went inland.

The towns are often known for their beautiful buildings and interesting history.
The Hanzestedenpad starts at Doesburg, if you want to walk it from the South to the North. Of course one can walk it in the opposite direction as well. We started in Doesburg, a lovely little place, and we enjoyed some nice views. We walked on top of the old town walls. The sky was very dramatic, because there was a big storm front coming in! The rain came down in buckets whilst walking on the dyke towards Olburgen. There was a lot of lightning and thunder and we found shelter at the reception of a campsite along the path. Not a nice idea to walk on top of the dyke as a major point for lightning to strike. In the end we had to continue, because the rain did not stop at all. We took the little ferry at Olburgen to Dieren which offers regular service. We called it a day and will continue our walk soon.

Hanzestedenpad – part 2
Dieren to Bakkershoeve (15,4km)

Beautiful autumn weather! We had 22 degrees and a nice breeze as well. We were amazed by the beautiful houses along the road of the old part of Dieren. They have loads of character and often beautiful views over the Ijssel valley. In Spankeren we met Wim, a gentleman in his late 70’s. We admired his traditional, lovely garden and he had plenty of time on his hands. Leaning on his spade, wearing his wooden clocks he told us all about his life. He was born and brought up in the very house we were standing in front of. A whitewashed old farm with a lot of charm. A Labradoodle and a Jack Russell took part in the conversation. He told us about his wife and daughters; his father who used to be a farmer, the local undertaker and responsible for maintaining the old church building. In his face you could see a lot of love for life and the village. He is a witty person and made it very clear that he would never ever join a parish council meeting (have been asked to take chair a couple of times), because he would have a row after just two meetings although being very peace loving. He simply can’t stand people doing the talk, but not doing the walk. When it comes down to work in the end, it is always the same people who put in the hard work, the rest is just hot air.
What a character. In the end we left him to feed the birds and went on.

We came along lovely country lanes and farm buildings. We had a lot of downpours lately and now with the warm weather the fungi just popped up everywhere. I took some great pictures.
We had a lovely late lunch at the Engelenburg in Brummen. It is a late medieval castle which now serves as a hotel with golf course. http://www.engelenburg.com/en/home

From there we continued our walk up north. We met a lot of walkers and bikers. Everyone seemed to have left his domestic duties to enjoy the unexpected warm and sunny day.
This part of the Hanzestedenpad is worth to be walked again in the future, because it is really lovely