Page 33 - QARANC Vol 14 No 8 2014

THE GAZETTE QARANC 31
Nijmegen Experience 2013
Friday 12th July
We meet at 256 City of London Field Hospital’s RHQ at 1930 for drive to Dover in order to get us across the channel and commence our adventure. We met the ferry bag checkers again and hand luggage went through security x-ray machine. The ferry crossing was nice and calm and took about 90minutes. It was a little busy coming out of the port traffic wise but once we were on the open road, well motorway it was onwards through France, then Belgium and then into Holland.
Saturday 13th July
We arrived at Nijmegen at 0615 with nothing open for Breakfast, not even MacDonald’s we were unable to get into camp until Midday. We did one circuit of the town on foot as the stall and music stages were getting their final preparations done for the weeklong festival. It was parking up time and people snoozed to pass the time. About 0800 one of the local coffee shops was open so we had breakfast there.
When we arrived at camp it was very well set up. The camp caters for over 5’000 military personnel from all over the world. The camp had Wi-Fi I was amazed at this. Our accommodation was in the South of the camp. The bunk beds were sectioned off into was you could call very loosely as rooms. The mattresses were quite dirty, well what do you expect if they are a beige colour to begin with and the camp is built on fine sand that gets everywhere (would remind you of Camp Bastion with the sand and dust). A sheet to cover the mattress is essential in my
book. A good top tip, there might be a few more top tips in this article.
The bus ticket for a week was 12.50 euros that would get you into Nijmegen city when you wanted. You could pay for day returns but a week ticket was a much better deal.
After settling into our bunk space and having a little lay down as not a lot of sleep was had on the journey over we went into Nijmegen again. What a contrast to 0615 in the morning. There were people around, not just people setting up stalls. The shops were open also. We found a square where there was music and drink tents and sat for a while and listened to the music. We walked down by the river and came across other festival areas.
Three of the team decided to go for a scenic view of the city in the guise of a fairground ride which spun you around. I would say the top of the ride was about 30 meters in height. Thankfully they lost no stomach contents on this ride.
As we were waiting for the bus back there was a lady waiting for a bus also, next thing we see her chest move and this rat pokes it head out from her loose fitting top and the lady proceeds to stroke it. The rat then disappears down her top again. Tried to get a picture of this but was not able.
Sunday 14th July
Well today was the flag raising ceremony where people would raise 34 flags representing the different nations. Being from Ireland me and another cadet now living in Scotland were raising the Irish flag. Rehearsal went well and the RSM said that all flags were raised without any incidents
unlike last year where someone let go of the rope and one flag fell down a bit.
Cultural visit
was Amsterdam.
Train ticket was
35.50euro return
and took about
1hr 30 min. The
groups split into smaller
groups and a variety of
areas were covered in Amsterdam. The group I was with went to the Heineken brewery tour where the history of Heineken was told and we got to taste the “best beer in the world”. We did go for the roof top burger option (€25 brewery tour & burger) and at the end of the tour we had a welcome burger on the roof top terrace. There were nice views from the terrace of Amsterdam. Don’t forget to ask for the Military discount and entrance is €1 cheaper.
While we were waiting for the