If one would study Dutch romantic scenery I think Nymwegen on the whole
a better town to stay in than Arnheim. It is simpler in itself, richer
in historic associations, and the country in the immediate east is
very well worth exploring--hill and valley and pine woods, with quaint
villages here and there; and, for the comfortable, a favourite hotel
at Berg en Daal from which great stretches of the Rhine may be seen.
To see Nymwegen itself to greater advantage, with its massed houses
and towers presenting a solid front, one must go over the iron bridge
to Lent and then look back across the river. At all times the old
town wears from this point of view an interesting and romantic air,
but never so much as at evening.
Some versions of "Lohengrin" set the story at Nymwegen; but the
Lohengrin monument is at Kleef, a few miles above the confluence of
the Rhine and the Waal, the river on which Nymwegen stands.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who was at Nymwegen in 1716, drew an odd
comparison between that town and the English town of Nottingham. If
Edinburgh is the modern Athens there is no reason why Nottingham
should not be the English Nymwegen. Lady Mary writes to her friend
Sarah Chiswell: "If you were with me in this town, you would be ready
to expect to receive visits from your Nottingham friends.
Pages:
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371