Going to Utrecht

14^th February 2014

So here I am thinking that Holland is pretty cold, and I’ll be okay if I wear enough layers and plug the holes. And to be honest it is a great plan; but only if you decided to only step outside between ten in the morning and eight in the evening. So yes, when I cycled to fetch Chelsea at eight thirty this morning, I was cold.

But after a chilly start to the day, we had an excellent time. We left by train to Utrecht, South West of us. (Utrecht is the fourth most populated city in Holland, for all you General knowledge fundi’s out there).

Utrecht central train station has a great thing going for them. The main exit of the Station is the entrance to the local shopping mall. And since I was with two women, the shopping commenced. It did not last too long as the price tags quickly took the wind from our sales. I should probably mention that the Dutch is an impeccably dressed population, everyone seemed to be well dressed and fashion conscience. What I did notice is that about 80% of the people would be considered ‘hipster’ in South Africa, with the glasses, Euro-cuts and blood restricting pants. I could not help to wonder if the remaining 20% could be the new Hipsters.

I’m sure my dad will be glad that the shopping was the smallest portion of our day. After I was done judging the style of the population, we soon found the tower that dominated the Utrecht skyline. We went to the DomKerk (oldest church in the region). We could not go on the tour as there was a wedding on but we did get to see some of the church and one of the courtyards. It was built in 1735 and registers as the best looking church I have seen.

We walked the streets of the town and were astounded by the beautiful canals and old houses, all the buildings seem to be ancient or completely modern so it leaves a stunning place to visit. We had sandwich’s from the most famous Italian bread deli in Utrecht (Don’t Worry, I was also blown away by their credentials). We continued walking when Chelsea and I walked past a few shoe stores and decided to get High-tops. When in Europe, do as Europeans do. So we got ourselves some shoes. From there we returned to the Station, we indulged in Starbucks coffee, only ever seen before in movies by South Africans.

So I do have to quickly apologise for the some of the rubbish I have written between the title and now, but well done for reaching the end.