Day 27: Nijmegen
Welcome
We spent the afternoon in Groningen yesterday before driving to Nijmegen for our last European headline show.
Breakfast was make-your-own cheese toasties at Vera.
We visited the Martinitoren and climbed it's 260 steps up to the viewing platform at a slightly underwhelming height of 57 metres. After climbing the tower I was exhausted so I went and slept in a nearby park for an hour.
On the way into Nijmegen we drove across the Waal river on a beautiful arch bridge called the Waalbrug.
I'm happy to announce that the Waalbrug is my bridge of the day with it's 244m arch and 604m total length elegantly carrying 50,000 cars every day.
Built in 1936 the Waalbrug was the first crossing for automotive traffic across the Waal. At the start of the Second World War Dutch combat engineers blew up the bridge (presumably they dynamited it) to slow the German advance, however during the German occupation it was restored to service. In 1944 the Germans attempted to destroy the bridge to prevent the allied advance but Dutch resistance member Jan van Hoof managed to disable the explosives.
We played a nice show at a venue called Merleyn, a comfey 150 capacity room with a pleasant backstage area.
Beth of the day goes to Liz for finding two pairs of jeans that fit, for buying a present for a family member, and for cleaning herself really well in the shower. Rub a dub dub three points in a tub, nice work on the scrub, Liz!