Utrecht
Day 5 (September 18, 2013) [continued]: After picking up our rental car, we set out for Utrecht. Because the rental was a stick shift, I drove. My first time driving in a foreign country! It was interesting to see how, on a four-lane highway, all the cars stayed in the two right lanes only occasionally passing in the third most right lane with almost no one ever bothering with the left lane. It was so organized — and nice! Once we got to Utrecht, we dropped our bags off at our next airbnb place (on Lepelaarstraat) and then successfully searched for some free parking. We walked to the Dom Tower, but had missed the last tour for the day so decided to walk around for a bit. We were getting a bit hungry, so we stopped in an courtyard for some frites from a small stand. In the Netherlands, they top their fries with all sorts of toppings. At the recommendation of the stand-owner, we ordered frites topped with peanut sauce, may and onions. It sounded kind of gross, but ended up being delicious (especially surprising because I really don’t like may or raw onions).
Next, we went in search of Oudaen, a bar/restaurant in an old castle, which Rob wanted to see. We got a table and ordered some appetizers and beers for dinner.
Once it was getting dark outside, we went on a light tour of the city (trajectum lumen), which uses your phone’s GPS to track where you are and which interacts with an iPhone app which told you about the different light displays.
Day 6 (September 19, 2013): The next day, we packed up the car then walked to the center of Utrecht to take a tour of the Dom Tower. We bought our tickets in advanced and had just enough time to squeeze in a quick lunch. It was by far the fastest sit-down meal I have ever had in Europe. Before we left Utrecht, we took a tour of the Dom Tower. The views from the top were great, and the tour was very informative (and great exercise, climbing all of those stairs)!
Next stop: Belgium!
