De Peel is a region in the southeast of the Netherlands. It straddles the border between North Brabant and Limburg. The region is best known for the extraction of peat for fuel, which had been done since the Middle Ages (but isn’t done anymore).

An area that has remained partly untouched by the peat-cutting was turned into a national park. It is one of the most bird-rich areas in Western Europe (my worst fear) but we didn’t see too many (and none up too close).

The terrain is varied with inaccessible peat swamps, lakes, heath land and sand ridges. The present swamp and some of the lakes were created by the cutting of peat.

Where the National Park is now, is only a couple of kilometres from the house my mum was born in.

Ulick and I went for a 2 kilometre walk around the site – which as actually more like 3.5 kilometres. We saw some goats which was nice.

People already lived in the Peel region during the Stone Age, with the discovery of items made of bone and wood showing that the inhabitants mainly lived off hunting and fishing.

Peat had been cut since the 13th century and used as fuel, with most of it removed from the area between 1850-1930. It was an important fuel source as wood was a scarcity.

After our visit to De Groote Peel, we headed back into Asten for a visit to the catholic church – Heilige Maria Presentatiekerk

The Catholic Church dates back to 1479 in Asten, however this church as built in 1901. Its tower is 75 metres tall, and contains a carillon of 57 bells – with the bells cast by the local Asten bell foundry.

It is a beautiful church, and I was glad to see it. It would have been the place of my grandparent’s funerals (Grandpa’s parents) in 1950 and 1963.

We returned to Ria’s for lunch, and then put in a load of washing so we can continue our journey tomorrow with a fresh set of clothes in our rucksacks.

Another delicious meal prepared by Ria, including Salmon with white asparagus and a dessert vanilla vla (custard) with speculaas in it ?

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Because of the climate, a lot of the fruits and vegetables are grown in greenhouses. They grow produce including tomatoes, strawberries and paprika (capsicum).

Also on our walk we saw the castle ruins. The Huys tot Asten first appeared in documentation around 1399. It started as a manor-house and soon developed into a true castle. The building underwent several renovations over the centuries, but was firebombed by the Germans in 1944.

We headed back to Ria’s via the bakkerij for some lunch supplies. There was a good selection of Sinterklaas specials.

All up it was a 5km walk, so we had earned a good lunch. Ria made us some hot chocolate on the stove, and we had some sandwiches for lunch.

In the afternoon we had some rest time, in preparation for going out in the evening. Ria had organised for us to visit with the van de Mortel family who live nearby.

We had a light dinner at Ria’s of soup and pasta, and passed some time, until we were due to go visiting at 8.30pm.

The family we were visiting are first cousins of my mother. Our hosts Frans and Wilma were beautiful hosts. Around the table, there were also other cousins of mums (Frans’ brothers and sisters), as well as Frans and Wilma’s sons Stan and Thijs.

We started the night off with some vlaai – they were all impressed that I knew that word! It’s like a fruit pie.

As the evening went on, they brought out more finger food – meats, cheese, melba toast, spreads, and some hot food including bitterballen. Lekker! We departed at about midnight! Quite a late night for me – I was glad for the rest I had in the afternoon!

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After lunch we went to meet Tante Nel to go on our sightseeing of where my mother’s family lived.

The first stop was Broekhoven (Bluijssens Broekdijk) – where my grandfather was born.

Tante Nel insisted on getting out of the car for photos – the lady likes having her photo taken.

Then we went to Neerkant to the house my mother was born (Moostdijksebergen). It was also where Nel and her husband Louis lived after they were married.

We then went to Neerkant cemetery where Nel visited uncle Louis’ grave. He died in 1977, only in his 50s. Also at the same cemetery there is a memorial for a family from Neerkant who lost their lives in the MH17 air disaster.

After visiting at the cemetery, we went to the Techniek met ’n Ziel – Technology with Soul museum in Neerkant. On display there is thousands of items relating to technology – right up Ulick’s alley. They are presented in domestic settings – so you can see how the technology was used – for example, kitchen, laundry, lounge room.

It was great reminiscing for Nel and Ria (and also Ulick and I).

Everyone Nel bumped into remembered her (she has been living in Asten for 17 years) – so she had a wonderful visit to Neerkant. The museum was set to close at 4.30pm, but we were only just sitting down for the free coffee and waffle (included in the €7 entry). Our host Harrie insisted on continuing the tour after our koffie break – with us leaving about 5.15pm!

Tante Nel wanted to take us to a restaurant for dinner – so we went to the China Garden for a delicious Chinese banquet. There was way too much food, but we tried some of everything.

After dinner, we returned Tante Nel to her flat. Promising to visit for her 100th birthday in four years time.

We got back to Ria’s house and watched some Dutch television. We watched a trash or treasure show called Tussen kunst en kitsch – the concept is the same no matter what language!

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After lunch we visited with Tante Nel, who only speaks Dutch, so Ria accompanied us as translator. Nel is now 96, but still living independently in an apartment. She does have some support services in place and goes out for lunch each day.

We made plans with Nel to go sightseeing around the local area tomorrow, and made our farewells. We headed back to Ria’s via the shopping centre to pick up a couple of items.

Back to Ria’s for a night in, with another of Ria’s home-cooked meals, which was very yummy! I had to go to bed around 7.30pm. Way too tired!!

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First point of call was the service desk in order to get our Eurail passes activated with a stamp. We had about an hour until our train to Eindhoven, so we had breakfast at the station. I had a three cheese toasted sandwich and freshly squeezed orange juice. Ulick had grilled cheese sandwich and a latte.

We then headed to the platform to catch our train to Eindhoven. Our Eurail passes are 1st class, but it looked that the 2nd class seats on NS rail looked very good also.

The train we traveled on had free wifi too. We travelled from about an hour and twenty minutes to Eindhoven, then disembarked the train, walked across the platform and boarded our next train to Deurne. This was a short 20 train ride.

We were met at Deurne by Ria. Ria’s aunt Nel is also my mother’s aunt (by marriage). I met Ria when she travelled to Australia with Nel on the occasion of my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary in 1998.

Ria drove us from Deurne to her home in Asten.  We enjoyed lunch with Ria and her husband Frans before heading to the Klok and Peel Museum.

Wow! I had no idea that Asten had such a large museum devoted to bells! Turns out, Asten has one of the largest existing bell foundry’s in the world! And the museum is a collection not only of bells created in Asten, but also from around the world, with many specimens over 2000 years old. We were met at the museum by Frans brother, who is a guide at the museum.

The museum has around 150 volunteers, with only 2FTE staff. We had a guided tour of the museum, played some bells, and I played a carillon organ!

Sara playing the carillon

A second part of the museum is devoted to The Peel (De Groote Peel National Park). De Groote Peel is a National Park in the Peel, a region in the Southeast of the Netherlands on the border between the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant. It has a size of 13,4 km² and preserves a peat bog that has remained partly untouched by peat cutting, which used to be extensive in the area.

For dinner we were treated to a traditional Dutch meal – Erwtensoep and Stamppot. Lekker!

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