May 15, 2012

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

7 comments:

  1. I love all the stories you tell with the pictures! To me it all seems so 'normal', and you think of it as such a great adventure (when it actually is, I just don't think about it that much). Okay this comment sounds a bit weird, but I hope you know what I mean? By the way awesome pictures, the ones taken on top of the Dom Tower are amazing!

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  2. That church! Oh! Oh! I would LOVE to go to a place like that. The oldest one I've been to is only about a hundred or so, but that's chicken feed compared to that. I really want to go to Europe!

    Great photos, by the way.

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  3. Lovely photos. It's like we're all going to Holland with you, and I can't really think of a better photographer I'd rather go with. (I'll let you know if I do, of course.)

    Thanks ever so much!

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  4. Love the parrot on the bike!

    I would love to visit a church that was around during the Reformation. That would be really neat...

    BTW, I nominated you! http://lmswriting.blogspot.com/2012/05/custom-error-message-and-kreativ.html

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  5. Oh Utrecht looks so much fun! I've never been there but I've always wanted to visit, since my best friend studies there. I will definitely do it now that I've seen those photos! :)
    xxx,
    Lily
    http://lilycupcake.blogspot.co.at/

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  6. i lived here! oh, how i miss the chilly days, sunny weekends and those nice pale faces! . . . and my purple bike ...

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  7. Coool! I live near Utrecht, haha cool you visited that city!

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