Netherlands: No gears, no brakes -having fun in Holland

From Stamford, we caught the train to Peterborough, from thence to Ely and to Bury St Edmonds where we had a long wait, so we walked for a long way with our rucksacks on and I discovered that my straps pull my shoulder and neck uncomfortably, but otherwise the rucksack isn't too bad. The public park is lovely in an old-fashioned way (especially if you are keen on begonias) because families play together there, among the ruins of a once proud monastery. It sounds as though I am anti-monastery and I'm not at all; the ideal of hospitality and the word "hospital" on the plan always make me think that the monks worked to benefit the lay community and were not always set on their own worldly wealth. This monastery was sacked and ruined and the pieces lie round about the park, but some houses have been built very artfully into one of the old walls and this is very attractive and pleasing to see.

Long wait at another station but we eventually boarded the ferry at Harwich. It's a well-fitted ship and so huge you can hardly feel it moving and we slept well. Husband was rather dismayed to find it a very steep climb into the top bunk, but he made it. In the mornIng he found out that there was a ladder sneakily hidden behind the cabin door.

It was not difficult to find the way to Wageningen by rail and we arrived in time to walk around this pleasant town with our hostess and climb a hill steep enough to give us a view; which she swears is very rare in the Netherlands. This view is over a part of the Rhine delta and the wild flowers were delightful. The town is famous for having an agricultural university which is very hot on green issues. Once the university buildings were all around the town as they are in Edinburgh, say, and now the town buildings - not easily converted - are being abandoned by the university which is moving to a campus. The university has abandoned its arboretum, which is sad, and an impressive greenhouse of tropical specimens. The town is like a garden city in that the townspeople have modest homes and put a lot of effort into their gardens. The soil seems to be very good (meaning I am jealous of the flowers!). Our friend reports that the Dutch don't want inequality - it's not in their nature, and indeed, their way of life seems to be enviable. The cycling keeps them fit and down to earth, and slows them down in a way that must be good for their mental health.

The next day I got a chance to do some cycling myself. I am not good on a bicycle! I can just about manage, and suddenly we were in a huge park threaded with cycle routes and the bicycles available had no gears and no brakes. How to stop? Back peddle. This was really hard to do at first and I kept reaching to clutch at non-existent brakes, and I always back-peddle when getting on... Basically it was all very fraught for half an hour and then it was fine apart from the people I mowed down because they did not get out of the way fast enough.

The terrain was sandy, with pine trees, and there were areas where the trees had been burnt, we think intentionally. There was heather coming into bloom. However, we didn't see any birds, although the others said they had seen beetles.

The land is quite flat and the paths are good

After a few hours of this we reached the Kroller-Muller museum, Otterlo. This is the most amazing modern art gallery. I discovered I don't think much of Seurat - very clever and intellectual pictures with no life or movement to them. But his friend and supporter Signac was good!

The permanent exhibition is very rich in Van Goghs and I hope I will have time to write about them later.

The Ashmolean, Oxford

This museum is the oldest in the country and it certainly has plenty of interesting artifacts in it. It was re-built and re-opened in 2009 and now it's rather difficult to navigate but very good looking with bright, glassy spaces as well as the old "palace" style. I enjoyed revising the Anglo Saxon finds that illustrate that part of our history, but most of all I was surprised by the art gallery. Good quality stuff from the Italian renaissance - some really beautiful altarpieces. On the third floor - European art - mainly French and Dutch and modern British, but really lovely things, including some great pre-Raphaelites I had never seen before.

destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah after Patenir

Samuel Palmer

Lucien Pisarro

Singer Sargent

Camille Pisarro

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

However, the cafe is over-priced, even for a cup of tea. There are plenty of better places to snack in Oxford. There are some great shops too, and there is much of interest to see.

Malcolm Morley

I have never seen work by this artist before. He works in the USA and was the first winner of the Turner prize. His pictures are super-realistic and include pictures of photos of racehorses and cruise ships, and planes blowing up. But here is one that illustrates his skill and humanity. It's great, isn't it?

Malcolm Morley