A Day in Utrecht

After we had looked forward to and excitedly prepared for their visit for months, Mimi and Papa finally arrived in Holland earlier this week for a brief stay with us before continuing on their European adventure.  With our gratitude, they spent much of their week reading books, building block towers, and racing tractors with Maddie and Will while Jim and I had the opportunity to explore Holland a bit. 

 

Our first "date day" took us to Utrecht, one of the oldest cities in The Netherlands and home to Holland's tallest church tower, sunken canals lined with cafés, boutiques and coffee shops (You won't find coffee sold here!), and, as you will find in most Holland cities, many bicycles!  After a bite to eat in a small café, Jim and I climbed the 465 steps to the top of the Dom Tower for an unforgettable experience and an even more impressive view of the city below.  Happy to be back on the ground, we skipped the canal cruise that we were tentatively planning on taking to stroll the streets along the canals instead.  When rain threatened to soak us a while later, we ducked into another charming café to escape the rain (and hail!) until we could walk back to our car under clear skies. 

 

Although we encountered some heavy rain and heavy traffic on the way back, we made it home in time to see the twins to bed after they told us about all the fun that they had with Mimi and Papa!

 

 

We discovered a staircase leading down to the canal.  I'm not sure if we were supposed to go down it or not, but we did!

 

I just loved all of the old, colorful, crumbling buildings!

The Dom Tower towers over Utrecht!

I must have been wearing my Bad Idea Jeans when I decided that we would climb to the top of this tower.

A tunnel passes through the base of the tower.

Looking up

Inside the tower

This was the easiest part of the tour.  We sat and listened as the guide told us the history of the tower and the church.  We had only climbed about 59 steps at this point, and had about 400 more to go.

I thought that we had made it to the top when I stopped to capture this gorgeous view of the city below, but we still had a ways to go!

Looking out over Utrecht

Inside the bell tower

At the very top

The view from the top was spectacular, as well it should have been after such a climb!

I wasn't sure how clear any of the pictures that I took at the top would be; it was SUPER windy up there, and I had to brace myself against the building as I took these shots!

My "Date Day" companion!

Way, way, way down below are the canals.  Do you see them?

The topmost section of the staircase had us feeling a bit claustrophobic!  This picture was taken on our descent.

Grateful to be on solid ground again!

A view of the canal

"Bikes!  Bikes!  More bikes!"
 ~ What Maddie would have said had she been with us in Utrecht

I loved these old streets lined with shops and cafés!  So charming!

Tot ziens, Utrecht!  It was lovely!