Blogs from Province of Utrecht, Netherlands, Europe - page 6

I had become weary of my travelling whilst in Zagreb, the endless churches, castles and ‘sights’ - but how can something extraordinary suddenly become ordinary? The answer is when see it every day for weeks at a time. So whilst in the baroque masterpiece of Mozart’s Salzburg I bought a train ticket to Amsterdam - 700 kilometres away. It would the longest single overland journey of my trip so far and also my last before arriving back home to Britain. I looked at stopping over in Germany somewhere along the way and I noticed that Munich’s Oktoberfest was on. However, when I looked into it hostels were asking for a minimum of 50 Euros for a single night in a youth hostel dormitory; I didn’t love beer and thousands of Aussies - that much. Besides, it ... read more

Early morning start, which meant buffet breakfast at 6:30 to start our tour promptly at 8:00. We got on our designated bus and drove from our quiet mooring in Utrecht. (In Amsterdam there is a tall-ships festivalso we had to move away.) We drove to a small demonstration site where one fellow showed how wooden shoes are made, and another explained how Dutch cheese is made. Items for sale, of course. After a longer drive into the country, we came to "Zaanse Schans ”, a “Heritage Park” for windmills, established when windmills were falling into disrepair. The little village actually houses people, some of whom work there. It was interesting – one business was set up as a sort of general store with many historic items. Unfortunately the windmills each required a five euro entr... read more

Today was a quiet day for the family Robertson. We packed up our picnic lunch and headed to nearby Barneveld. They were having a market day and it was packed. We bought some fresh sausages, some souvenirs, and tried oliebollen (sort of like a small raisin doughnut). We also did a short tour of an Alice in Wonderland Museum which was pretty cool. Later we played some soccer at the park and rode bikes around for a while. I wanted to pass along the most annoying thing I saw so far this trip: we were on a canal boat in Brugge and it was breathtaking (not like on Seinfeld but really breathtaking), and I look over and there is a lady on the boat chatting on her cell phone. Was the call THAT important?? Seriously! We ... read more

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

Well, we made it! Flights were uneventful which was good although the flight was quicker/shorter by 1/2 hour which you might think was good but personally I would have preferred another 1/2 hour of sleep...Anyways, the logistics all worked out perfectly, with the car and directions, etc. There was TONS of orange around the airport and lots of crazy hats and wigs. We did take a short nap in the middle of the day. And the rest of the day was spent almost entirely on our bikes! You always hear about it and read about it, but until you get here and see it, you just don't get it. Bike riding here is a way of life and a true mode of transportation. At home, we ride bikes for fun and to exercise. Here, you ride ... read more