Utrecht is an ancient town with lots of historical interest, especially as a religious center. i took an exploratory walk into town this afternoon and got lost for almost 7 hours. saw lots of the town along my way... old town, new town and residential neighborhoods... even saw a windmill in the middle of town somewhere!!! it was very cool to round a corner and there ahead of me was an old windmill standing watch over the street. 
another sight which dominates Utrecht is the Dom Tower. what an incredibly beautiful piece of marvelous architecture! i stood for quite awhile just gazing in awe at the Tower and the remaining section of the old church, which is quite huge, btw. i may be a bit silly, but as i stood looking at such impressive grandeur, i was swept up in a wave of emotion and had to choke back the lump that was rising in my throat and blink away the tears that began to well up in my eyes. i don't know why, but i was overcome with intense emotion standing there in the shadow of such an ancient and grand building. i'm not much of a religious person, but i swear i felt the glory of what god put into mankind to be able to create buildings of such stature.
after my 'religious experience', i found a table at one of the numerous outside cafes and had a late supper of broodjes ham (ham sandwich) and a biertje (small beer) and got directions back to my hotel from a friendly local couple.
sleep felt good after a day of being lost by car and by foot :)
oohh, bedankt voor the suggestions :) climbing the Domtoren is on my agenda for Thursday :) i'll check into the railway museum, too.
ReplyDeleteit was way cool to accidently find the windmill, i took a bunch of photos while trying not to look too much like a tourist to the local people passing by me. lol, don't think i suceeded, though. didn't notice the Irish Pub.... too bad or i would have had a pint there.
hehehe, i totally understand it that you've not climbed the historic towers even though you live here. i'm much the same way about special things in my hometown. i always think i'll do it someday, but never seem to. but, that's a bad way to think.... for example, wish i would have seen New Orleans like i've always wanted to do. now it's too late :/
if i can get a good photo from Domtoren, i will surely post it! :)
oh, yeah, there is more traffic here than in my hometown. also, here, people drive really fast at all times!
ReplyDeletea big problem i have is that Dutch roundabouts have more lanes and exit spurs going off of them than do the roundabouts in Ireland and the U.K. lol, i can navigate a roundabout driving clockwise on the wrong side of the road in a car with steering wheel on passenger side, but i'm hopeless when trying to navigate a normal car on Dutch roundabouts!