Blogs from Utrecht, Province of Utrecht, Netherlands, Europe - page 4

Today we ventured into Utrecht which involved taking public transit! What a great system. We parked just on the edge of the city and got parking plus 4 two-way bus passes for 4 euro dollars (about $5 CDN)! We would have had to pay 28 euros to park in the city! I've attached one picture of bikes by the central station. There were thousands. I've never seen so many bikes. They were literally stacked two high in racks! And up and down every street! Well, we were on foot this time and headed to the Dutch Railway Museum. After awhile I had to stop Nigel from taking pictures of every canal we passed over; but they were quaint. It was fun for the kids (movie and a train adventure ride) and interesting for the adults. We ... read more

Today was our last day in Holland. First thing, we woke up and got ourselves organized for our trip to Cairo. Annelie kindly offered to let us use her laundry machines to wash our clothes, so we at least get to start the Middle East portion of our trip with clean clothes. We stashed our big packs at the hostel for the day, and set out looking for some breakfast in downtown Utrecht on our way to Annelie's - dirty laundry in hand.  Having picked up some strawberries, stroopwafels and a baguette, we enjoyed our simple breakfast in the shadow of the Dom sitting on a park bench. After breakfast, we walked to Annelie's and got our laundry going. Since it was the day after Holland kicked ass in the World Cup semi-final, Sander and Annelie ... read more

We lived not far from Utrecht and most Saturday's used to drive to Baarn and take the train in, using the Park and Ride. Hoogcatherijne hadn't changed much over 22 years, the fresh orange stall was still there, though I didn't remember the market stalls just outside the main entrance.... read more

Traveling this part of the world is bloody expensive. This is learned the hard way by nearly all young backpackers from the Antipodes undertaking their first major overseas excursion. All of those overtime wages earned in shitty bars are immediately transformed into Monopoly money, their value free falling to the point of non-relevance. The tricks are many; similar numbered price tags lead many to overlook the devil's symbols - € and £, resulting in blown budgets and frantic calls to generous parents at 2am Australian time. Filial love goes only so far in explaning these life-saving 0% interest loans; perhaps the generous parents remember too well their times spent Living The Dream, camped on the floor of a leaking share house in wintery London, surviving on white bread and tomato sauce. My first excursion here in ... read more

Utrecht This morning I decided that I would try for a different place and made my way to Utrecht, which is only 30 min by train from Amsterdam. On the ride, I saw many many many windmills and water ways. I can’t imagine how homes can be built with waterways surrounding them on 3 out of 4 sides only a few feet from the foundation of the home. Whole neighbourhoods with little waterways running in grid patterns around their homes. I am glad I took the day trip to Utrecht as it was a little gem. Once I found my way out of the massive shopping centre that the train station drops you into it really was beautiful. I actually preferred it to Amsterdam. It has less of the touristy feel but still a lot ... read more