Eindhoven at night

This morning started with a leisurely drive along the Rhein valley, towards Koblenz, avoiding motorways as long as possible.

We noticed, last night, that the river looked extraordinarily low and, after doing some research, can confirm it has been at its lowest since 2018 causing disruption to trade as barges struggle to navigate the shallow waters.

The drive was beautiful, through pretty villages with menacing castles on steep vineyard hillsides. Exactly what we’ve come to expect along German rivers.

We arrived in Eindhoven, mid afternoon, ahead of our plan to cycle the Lichtjesroute. We’d downloaded the route on a Dutch cycling app and picked up a paper copy from Tourist Information. Both were perused over a hasty cuppa as we tried to make sense of it all.

The cafe owner suggested we might like to cycle out to Strijp-S for dinner and admire the ‘funky’ architecture.

It turns out Strijp-S is a development on the old Phillips factory. Comprising an eclectic mix of old and new, re-using original buildings and retaining some of the old factory infrastructure.

It had been a bit of a hairy ride, Dutch cyclists in rush hour are terrifying and take no prisoners. It was a relief the cycle paths were quieter when we retraced our steps to pick up the Lichtjesroute.

Each year, in September, lights line the roads of Eindhoven in memory of the day the city was liberated from German occupation in 1944. (part of Operation Market-garden) The route taken by allied troops is lit for approximately 3 weeks, so we were fortunate to cycle it.