Utrecht

 Day 7 in the Netherlands we got together with our relatives and my aunt gave us a tour of Utrecht!

Apparently even parrots ride bike in Holland. ;)

We climbed aboard a long glass tour boat and rode around the canals. 

The tour guide would say a sentence in Dutch, then repeat it in English, and then repeat it again in German! And then he'd move on to the next sentence! I have no idea how his poor brain cooperated. I was very impressed.

Light reflecting and dazzling under the bike-lined bridges.

Water level apartments and restaurants. Soft breeze coming through the open windows. Different languages murmuring and bouncing around inside. 

Dom Tower in the background:

And then we wandered around the city and came to the Domkerk! (Dom Church)

It was strange to walk around a city and then turn a corner and just naturally come upon a building like this.

They started building this church in 1254. Not even kidding. It was finished in 1520. Inside the church there are statues that Martin Luther's followers defaced during the reformation.

o_O

So you mean to tell me I walked inside a building that was around during the reformation??

And how did they even build a massive church like this back then?!

Mind = blown.

Crazy gargoyles, huh?

And then we got to climb up the 465 steps to the top of the Dom Tower!  

Side note: see that pink van in the top right hand corner? Later I got a pic of it from ground level, too:

And then we had to tackle the steps again. Steep and winding, claustrophobic and dizzy-making. Winding around and around, no railing, toes poking over the edge of each narrow step. Shoulders brushing the tight walls. It was nerve-wracking and scary and awesome.

The tower we had just climbed. *Whew!*

Cousin picture in the garden!

After that we all went out for pannekoeken, and then wound our way back. 

It was one of my {many} favorite days. <3