Utrecht Life
Utrecht is actually a pretty cool place (especially when compared with Doha!). The historic centre is quite pretty, with a sunken canal running through it, plenty of typical Dutch architecture, and the ‘Dom’, the country’s highest church tower. There are loads of restaurants and cafes around the canal area, and they’re usually packed at night and on weekends. But it’s not a touristy place at all, so that gives it a very real, local feel.
We have resisted the urge to get bicycles like everybody else, since we’ll only be here for four weeks. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the centre of town, and also to the tram stop, from where it takes 25 minutes to get to the office in Nieuwegein.
The weather has been pretty awful considering it’s supposed to be summer. We got absolutely soaked the first morning we were here while walking to the tram stop, and we’ve only had four or so nice days in two weeks. But the next few days are supposed to be quite nice so some relief is on the way…
Last Saturday we took a bus to Kinderdijk, a World Heritage listed site that contains 19 traditional Dutch windmills. It was a pretty cool sight to see them all turning (they only work on Saturdays, these days) and a trip worth taking. We’re hoping to get to Gouda this Thursday for the cheese market, but we’ll have to ask for the day off first… Meanwhile Saturday would be a nice day to see something outside Utrecht, but it doesn’t look good now that the Wallabies and Socceroos both have big matches on the same day!
Tags: Europe, Holland, Netherlands, Travel
Nick