Dwars door de Lage Landen

De Vlaamse polders

The adventure starts on the beach of Ostend and from there Arnout Hauben continues through the Flemish polders. In Meetkerke he meets Amedé, who used to pump water from the polders to drain the land.

Antwerpen, parel aan de Schelde

The journey continues through the Waasland towards Antwerp. In Klinge, Arnout Hauben and his friends pass a remnant of the Death Wire, the electrical barrier that separated the Netherlands and Belgium during the First World War. On the Left Bank they rest on the beach of Sint Anneke. Finally, in the catacombs of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Arnout discovers a unique art treasure that tells about the wealth of the city.

Door de (w)arme Kempen

Arnout, Philippe and Ruben cross the sandy Kempen. At the Kleine Nete they pass a crab catching station. Arnout then visits some old friends in Geel: Rob and Eddy. Fifteen years ago he made a documentary about family nursing in Geel, in which the pair played a leading role. In the abbey of Tongerlo, Arnout comes face to face with Da Vinci's Last Supper, and in Westerlo he meets Prince Simon de Merode, who invites him to his castle. The prince's ancestors appear to have played an important role in the creation of Belgium.

Limburg, de groene long van Vlaanderen

In Bolderberg, Arnout, Ruben and Philippe are staying in the hotel that was the setting for the largest art theft in the history of the Low Countries in the 1970s. In Genk, Arnout delves into the mining past. He meets the very last coal farmer who keeps the very last bags of real Limburg coal.

Nederlands-Limburg, een land apart

Arnout, Ruben and Philippe cross the border with the Netherlands and arrive in Limburg. They climb the Sint-Pietersberg and go to the official end point of the Pieterpad. They will follow this path for 500 kilometers to the far north of the Netherlands. Arnout explores Fort Sint Pieter and discovers a labyrinth of underground tunnels. The three friends travel via Sittard to small Montfort and meet Mientje. She remembers as if it were yesterday how a heavy bombing at the end of the Second World War changed her life forever.

Over de grote rivieren

Arnout Hauben and his friends arrive in Tienray. During the Second World War, 123 Jewish children were taken care of here. A little further on in Groesbeek, Arnout and his friends walk past a replica of a glider from the Second World War. They meet Nelly Kerkhoff, who witnessed the fighting of Operation Market Garden up close.

Tussen boer en adel

Arnout, Ruben and Philippe arrive in the Achterhoek. In Gaanderen they are welcomed by a musician who sings a song in Low Saxon. In Laren they have coffee with a baroness who spent her childhood at Verwolde Castle. On the Sallandse Heuvelrug, Arnout meets Suzanne, a shepherdess who exchanged her ten-storey flat in the Bijlmer for a life close to nature. Things are less quiet in Hellendoorn, where the three end up on an extremely hard motocross.

Episode 8