Our travels		Video+Pics		Cycling		Walking		About us
A walk near Valkenburg aan de Geul. 21 april 2007, the men are cycling the 150 km tourversion of the Amstel Gold Race, the ladies decide to go for a walk along the Geul. From our appartment, the Koningswinkelhof, at the end of the Plenkerstraat, we go straight into the woods. It isn't long before we see an owl in the bushes. The bird isn't at all disturbed by us and it actually looks like it is posing for our camera's. After we all got our pictures we walk further along the Geul river. The water is very low as it didn't rain for month now. To our left we have the hills of the Limburg landscape. They are mainly made of marl, which looks like sandstone. The path climbs a little, but the main part is level along the river. The limestone in the ground makes we see other plants than we are used to at home, where everything is clay. So we take our time to see all the flowering plants close up. The mistletoe in trees also doesn't escape our attention. We follow the road until it ends and turn left towards the Geulhemmer watermill. This old mill is now in use as a bar and restaurant. The weather is nice enough for us to take a coffee with a traditional Limburg vlaai on the terrace. In the meantime we look at the cyclists that started two hours after our heroes and are just starting their tour. Next to the watermill there is a bridge on which we cross the Geul. Along small paths between the meadows we walk to the village called Houthem. In Houthem we visit the St. Gerlach church. St. Gerlach was a hermit who lived in hollow oak near Houthem. He is known for his love for animals. The church is beautiful inside. The paintings on the ceiling are going to be restored from 2008, but we can see them in their old glory. In the middle of the church is the tombe of St. Gerlach. Under the tombe there is pit filled with holy sand. You can take some in a plastic bag. At home you are supposed to throw it on the floor of the stables and your animals will be protected from animal disseases. The website of the church in dutch only, but you see some pictures of the inside of the church there. After our visit to the church we walk along Chateau St. Gerlach, a large and expensive hotel, in the direction of the grassland of the naturereserve called Ingendael. This grassland is often swampy, but after the long drought there is no problem with water. The reed is brown and dry. But ther is no problem for the large grazers here. They have food from the green luss grass along the river. The Przwalski horses great us while we leave the area and cross the river again to go left, back to the Plenkerstraat. Here is a map of our walk. Back to walking with Gonnie. Or back to the Amstel Gold Race 2007, cycling with Tom.