Richard and Natalie’s Walk of Wisdom
“Keep developing yourself by doing new things all the time”
(pilgrim Richard Göbel-Frieswijk)
Pilgrim Richard Göbel-Frieswijk walked the Walk of Wisdom with his wife Natalie. Below you will find his report.
I believe that you should keep stimulating yourself. Continuing to develop by constantly doing new things. Even if you might be a bit reluctant to do so. I’ve never been much of an athlete like that myself. I don’t see myself on a treadmill. After all, you’re not going anywhere. I am in favour of an active private life. Just do your daily things. For example, chopping wood or splitting wood or building something. For that reason, we thought it would be fun to walk pilgrim routes. This way you combine the outdoor activities with the sporty and at the same time add something substantive.
That’s how Natalie and I started the pilgrimage route St. Odulphus in Southwest Friesland. I can hear myself thinking. I have often enough ridden the so-called small roads with the motorcycle so I thought I had a pretty good impression of Friesland. I can confess that I was terribly mistaken! But more about this in another story. This story is about another “contemporary pilgrimage route”: the Walk of Wisdom (WoW).
A story with similar experiences. You have to build up experience. That can only be done by simply doing it. Just start and experience how it goes along the way.
Gradually tying together days
In Friesland we started by first walking for a day and then back by bus. Gradually, we started to tie days together by walking with luggage. Bring a tent, burner, pan and food. Find a spot for the tent. Camping or anywhere else. Gradually, we became more experienced with this and we decided to do this for a longer period of time.
I am blessed with a rich imagination. I can imagine how the pilgrims didn’t go home at the time. They just kept going. Were taken in by locals and found inn in churches. Unfortunately, this philosophy no longer exists. So let’s be self-sufficient. A two-day walk with 1 overnight stay feels like a week’s holiday.
Friday, July 12, 2019 we left for Nijmegen to walk the Walk of Wisdom . 136 kilometers criss-cross through the Brabant, Gelderland and Limburg landscape.
The pioneer route leads through a diverse landscape with un-Dutch height differences. Most of it is unpaved and the contours of the route resemble a bird in flight. The starting and ending point is the most popular building in Nijmegen: the Stevenskerk (1273). You will walk through two countries, three provinces and eleven municipalities.
This route is characterized by walking without a phone as much as possible. You walk on the basis of a route description which is supported along the way by stickers with the characteristic angel symbol.
Leather shoelace
Nowadays, traditional manners are disrupted by modern technology. We communicate with everyone around us, but hardly pay attention to each other or a conversation with your loved ones. While walking, you immerse yourself in yourself. Conversations ensue, you enjoy the landscapes you didn’t know existed and come across sights from antiquity such as medieval castles or remains of a Roman watchtower from the third century. In my case, I can’t help letting my imagination run wild.
Each pilgrim will receive a leather shoelace with a unique registration number upon registration. With each completed route, you can pick up a plastic bird ring at a local café, restaurant or coffee shop. Sometimes you can find them in a birdhouse.
The shoelace comes with your own registration number. The shoelace with the bird rings is proof that you have completed the route. You can also attach something else to it that is of personal value.
The route starts in the beautiful Stevenskerk in Nijmegen. Just outside is the statue of Mariken van Nimwegen. Mariken looked the devil in the eye and lived with him for 7 years.
Room for the blessed
The route goes almost directly into Nijmegen from the Ooypolder. You walk along the Waal. Later, you walk around the bison bay. You literally walk between the bison there. Friendly but imposing animals. In the bison bay we took a short swim. Very refreshing and we felt reborn.
In the village of Ubbergen lies the seigneury of Beek in the municipality of Berg en Dal. A terrain named after the Elysian or Elysian fields. The Elysian fields are a place from the Roman faith. It’s a place in the underworld where you go when you’re suddenly taken from life. It is a place for the blessed.
This designation with fields is post-war, but in the 19th century there was already talk of an Elysian valley. This designation may be related to the presence of country estates, in which context Arcadia (Greece) was also used. Again, I can’t control my imagination and had the blissful image in front of me from the movie Gladiator with Russell Crowe. A scene that gives me goosebumps time and time again:
I can confess that it is indeed a beautiful place that I can imagine you would want to go to after death. A beautiful rolling landscape with grasslands interspersed with grain and wheat.
Dragonflies guide us on our route by always flying ahead of us and landing back on the path. 1 Dragonfly even stopped us for a moment and forced us to stop and pay attention to each other. Exactly on that spot there was a memorial made by someone by leaving a board with a text with flowers. The lyrics said “I will miss you”. A memory you will never forget. Don’t lose sight of each other.
In the backyard of a B&B
Of course we continued the route with the necessary overnight stays. Thrown back on ourselves and the few things from our backpack. In the evening I set up the tent with stiff muscles. Stumbling the last few meters.
For example, we could not find a campsite in 1 evening. All campsites were overcrowded because of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. Wild camping was also not an option and eventually we ended up with people who had a B&B. We were received mercifully. We were allowed to pitch our tent in their garden and use the facilities of the cottage.
A shower is suddenly worth so much more than if you do it every day at home. The next day we climbed the Duivelsberg. Before we climbed that mountain, we walked through the Valley of the Philosophers. In Roman times, a philosopher is said to have retreated here to escape from garrison life.
The Devil’s Mountain was indeed devilish because style that it was! Step by step up the mountain. On the way I found out that I had left my jacket at a bench so I could go back. I left Natalie and my luggage behind to pick up the beloved jacket (once bought in Grave).
Groesbeek – German border along a medieval castle.
Kranenburg – Reichswald
Kranenburg has been a place of pilgrimage since the fourteenth century. The story goes that a miracle took place at the edge of the forest at the place where a host had been spit out.
Freudenberg-Milsbeek-Sint Jansberg-Mookerheide
The Mookerheide is known for the Allied Operation Market Garden. Traces of the war can be seen everywhere. Traces and memorials that refer to the war. Idyllic forests where shelling has taken place and where people have lost their lives. A sad thought in such a beautiful place. For example, you can see a photo showing that two missing pilots were found in a field in 2011. How nice it would have been for the next of kin to hear that your family has been found.
Nothing but uninterrupted nature passes you by. Beautiful wildflowers in the most beautiful shades of purple, pink and white.
With slender petals, they are meekly beautiful. My calf is starting to hurt. I can hardly go any further but we are facing the second part of the Mookerheide. Up a very steep staircase. Every step hurts. Pitching the tent on the spot is not allowed. The Mookerheide is a protected area. Moreover, there are cattle running around freely and Natalie doesn’t like that.
Then just keep going. Up the steep stairs. Over the heath. There seems to be no end to it. Eventually we end up at the Mookerheide Hunting Lodge estate. Plenty of places where the tent can stand. I decide to insist a bit. Apparently, the sheltered workshop processes undergrowth into firewood. The lock is empty and there is no one to be seen. We have the empire to ourselves. I kind of forget my pain. Beautiful picnic tables. We feel in charge. From internet research (yes yes yes we turned on the phone for a while) and Facebook we learn that the sheltered workshop has stopped. Presumably no one will come the next day. To be on the safe side, we set the alarm anyway. The next day we immediately put away the tent and sleeping bags to exclude any suspicion. In the end, we enjoyed the morning sitting on the benches and large table and drank coffee and sandwiches. How rich we felt.
Have a nice day walking
Because Natalie doesn’t like the uncertainty of the sleeping place, we decided to arrange the sleeping place in advance. The next stop would be at the Hatertse Vennen. We called the Scouting Labelterrein Sint Walrick. I called the scouting grounds at 8:00 in the morning. I identified myself as a ‘fellow scout’. Everything was fine and we could come. Reassured of the certainty of an overnight stay, we could start our day. It was a nice day of walking and soon we arrived at Heumen. Near Heumen is the Walrick Chapel with the lapjesboom or fever tree.
The robber chieftain Walrick is said to have been converted to Christianity in the 8th century because his sick daughter was healed by a preacher. This happened after she had hung a piece of clothing in the tree.
For that reason, it has become a spiritual place for everyone to hang a piece of cloth in the tree for yourself or others who are dealing with an illness. It is important that after you have hung up the fabric, you do not look back when you walk away. Students also know how to find the place when they go into their final exams.
Once we arrived at the Scouting grounds, we were warmly welcomed. We had a field to ourselves. We were able to shower and charge the phone. Coffee in the evening for a voluntary contribution.
The next day we arranged an overnight stay in the Monastery and again with the certainty of the overnight stay we went for a walk again. Pick up the tent. Coffee and bread. If you have your entire existence in your backpack, you can go wherever you want. So if you come across a nice bench somewhere along the way, we will make coffee, food or soup. The hot meal in the evening is also becoming more and more convenient for me. I use mountaineering meals. These are freeze-dried full-fledged meals. They are a bit expensive but very nutritious. The other evenings we share such a meal and eat something else with it. Fruit or yogurt or frankfurters or a canned vegetable in broth. One gets his food in the can that contained the vegetables. The other person then eats from the pan. We didn’t bring any signs.
Before we got to the monastery we walked through an area called Keent. There used to be an airport along the river. After the river was diverted, the airfield became isolated because it became an island. When the Second World War broke out, the airfield was put back into use.
During excavations, a remarkable number of champagne bottles have been unearthed. It turned out that not only weapons and ammunition were flown in, but also liquor. When another plane was shot out of the sky, it was celebrated wildly with the necessary bottles of champagne.
The last steps along the old Wetering. That river was a bit high so we got our feet wet. The hardship is part of being a sincere pilgrim, so we don’t mind. You only learn when you step outside your comfort zone.
Oprjochte Frys
The monastery is located in the town of Velp near the fortified town of Grave. It was at Grave where the historical paths of our two pilgrim paths crossed. Because the fortress of Grave was designed by none other than Menno van Coehoorn. Military and fortification engineer. An upright Frys. Born in Britsum March 17, 1704. His fortifications can be found in Sloten, Zwolle, Nijmegen, Bergen op Zoom, Grave and Breda. Coehoorn is also an important person in the pilgrimage of St. Peter’s. Odulpus that we walk in Southwest Friesland. His mausoleum can be found in Wijckel. The tomb there was vandalized by Napoleon’s troops. Purely out of anger at the indestructible fortresses of his hand.
We entered the old monastery. After a bit of awkward wandering back and forth, we were approached. A friendly man in civilian clothes who wore his trousers at half past seven. We identified ourselves as pilgrims and requested a place to sleep. As befits any good Christian, we could not be refused. So we were handed over to Mother Superior. A woman in civilian clothes who holds sway. But the shack was full of four-day runners and she sat with her hands in her gray hairs.
When we said that all we needed was a piece of grass, there was a sense of relief. We were escorted to the monastery garden. We meekly followed her like ducklings do behind mother duck. A beautiful idyllic spot between the fruit trees. We were invited to the meal and were allowed to use the shower. Placing the tent was not part of the standard service and was tolerated once.
The remarkable thing was that nothing was known about our arrival. That while I had really had someone on the phone. Because we looked disheveled, we were not bothered with this.
The next day we had breakfast at 8:00 am. At half past eight we were woken up by Mother Superior. Again, the telephone announcement came up. Not that we hadn’t been welcome and not that we weren’t believed, but it was starting to bother us. Since the mobile phone remembers everything, I was able to find out who I had called. It turned out that I had been in contact with another monastery Emmaus in Hervoirt. The mystery was solved.
Velp – Overangel
Overangel-Ravestein-Niftrik.
Niftrik – Wijchen
Wijchen-Leur, The Netherlands
Leur – Hernen
Lordships of Leur are areas that used to be under the authority of a noble lord who was called “heerlijkheid”. Much of the land in Leur is still owned by the noble family.
Because of the beautiful noble forest, we put it to the test and decided to ask honestly if we could pitch our tent. We had found the forest and the ranger happened to walk up. The ranger was a man who looked free-spirited. We could tell from his attitude that he himself had no problem with our request, but that “the gentlemen” preferred not to. With doubt in his voice, he had to announce that he could not do that. We meekly showed respect for his professional attitude and left the site.
Through the woods and on the last energy we found a mini campsite.
As it should be, we went wrong and eventually ended up at mini campsite Zus & Zus. Again a campsite that was FULL of four-day runners, we could not be refused a place.
But wait….. one sister…. two sisters. Hey!!! Two of the same. Haha hence the name. Extremely nice girls. We were warmly welcomed and the talking didn’t stop. The most beautiful sanitary facilities I had ever seen on a campsite. Yes, yes, Villeroy & Boch….. And don’t forget the door handles???
Everyone gathered at the long wooden table. Everyone was interested in us. The campsite was mainly populated by pensioners who walked the four-day event. Grumpy 60+ers. A corner was found for us and we were able to pitch our tent. The next morning I got a suit of the same cloth. Cozy again. The guests were also cordial to us. It was Friday. Our last day of hiking. The last day of the Four Days Marches. The sisters are busy with the gladioli. One was left and was spontaneously put in Natalie’s backpack.
Hernen-Bergharen
Bergharen – Afferden
The day was over. In Afferden near Druten we picked up our last bird ring. And took the bus to Nijmegen. Is our pilgrimage complete? No! The obligations called again. We still have 1 route left. We have #zinin of them. We also have to do the initiation ritual in the Stevens Church. This can be done in advance, but can also be done afterwards.
Once in the bus, because of the gladiolus we received, we were considered four-day runners. But along the way we were also increasingly recognized as WoW-ers by our leather shoelace bracelet with the colored bird rings on it.
Gladiolus in the backpack
We enjoyed the atmosphere in Nijmegen and sat along the Waal. The gladiolus in Natalie’s backpack gave us the feeling of walking through the fields of the blessed. We called the nearest Scouting label site in Mook. We were more than welcome there as well. For a bargain price (2.50 p.p.p.n.) we could enjoy one last night together.
The impressions, the togetherness, the hardships, the freedom, the people you meet. The chats here and there, the beautiful nature, culture and history made it an unforgettable experience. I would like to thank the organization of the WoW, but above all this experience that I was able to experience together with my wife Natalie Frieswijk. Thank you for this adventure and may many more follow.
TEXT AND PHOTOS: RICHARD AND NATALIE GÖBEL-FRIESWIJK
