Utrecht & Gouda

Even though I woke up feeling not so well, Bre and I still got on our bikes and headed for Utrecht. Considering the last time we left our bikes at the train station we decided be to EXTRA safe. We not only locked our bikes together to a railing but added a second lock through our wheels and attached it to the railing. I asked Bre if it would be enough and her response was, "Well, unless someone comes by with the Jaws of life, I think we are good." We only had to wait for a few minutes for the train and when we got to Rotterdam Centraal we had to switch trains. To kill time before the train came Bre and I headed for the bathroom. When we got there we realized, like most touristy places in the Netherlands, that we had to pay to go in. We looked at each other and said forget it. I think I said something along the lines of "I'm so tired of having to pay to use these bathrooms." On our way down the stairs to get back a man said he'd give us money to use the bathroom. Bre told him no thanks and I just kinda looked at him. Uhh, thanks for offering but I'd rather not use your money. Plus, is buying someone an entry to the bathroom the same as buying someone a drink at the bar? What did he expect from us in return? Ew. So we caught the train from Rotterdam to Utrecht. We went the wrong way out but before we turned around I needed to find a bathroom. We stopped in this little cafe inside the train station. However, when I went to leave the restroom, I realized I couldn't. I was locked in! I completely panicked. I tried to jiggle the handle and jiggle the lock and there was no way that door was opening. So, what else could I do. I banged on the door! Bre finally heard me and told the waiter I was locked in. All I heard was laughing but I didn't think it was funny.

However, I did make it out and that's all that matters. The train station in Utrecht is like an airport with a giant mall and this mall...never ends and when it does finally end you forget where you are!

Utrecht is gorgeous, however! We were so happy to be there and surprised at how busy it was. We found our way around without a map and found this cute little haven for Gerber Daisy flowers called Ten Kate Flowers. The perimeter had been weaved entirely with flowers. Inside there was a giant sand castle that had been ruined in the middle. We thought maybe some kids had done it until - out of nowhere GODZILLA CAT came out and showed everyone who was King of that castle. Someone actually climbed up and took him off but was reprimanded because the cat belongs there.

Then we stopped at a church, Domkerk. It was so beautiful inside! We worked our way around it and I marveled at the architecture. When we had made our way to the back we noticed that we could light a candle for a loved one so we did and said a small prayer. As we did this, a choir had started to sing. Imagine being in the right place at the right time to witness something beautiful. You just had to be there. And since you couldn't be there, I videotaped it. Enjoy.

After we saw all there was to the Church we got tickets to climb the DomToren. This is the tower I referred to before as having some 500 steps to the top. It is 112m high and houses 50 bells. I learned that this tower used to be connected to the Church we visited across the street. However, the middle section wasn't built as strongly as the tower and the end. So after a storm rolled in and demolished the middle section, they kept it that way.

The tour up the DomToren took about an hour. Half the time is how long it took to climb all those stairs. We stopped every couple hundred steps so the tour guide could show us inside the tower. It helped but it was still an enormous feat to climb. It took us a little bit longer to catch our breath, we think, than the other visitors ...or maybe we just imagined that. When we got to, what I thought was the top, we were able to hear the Carillon bells. After the presentation, she informed us that we still had a little ways to go and if we wanted to climb up that high we could. Bre saw the fear in my eyes but did not give me a chance to voice my concerns. She was on the steps in no time! I was shaking the whole way up, not because I was tired, not because I was sick, but because I was completely sure that at any time this tower would come down... When we got to the top it was gorgeous and completley worth it. Wow, what a view. I had to try as hard as I could not to look down but of course, I did. Bre, however, was running circles around me. She enjoyed being as high up as she was. She even leaned over the edge and said, "Does this scare you?" Yeah. It did scare me. Bre wasn't scared until we started our decent down but we made it easier by making jokes. Something along the lines of what our moms would say if we went running down the stairs and how Bre's mom would tell her that she is always trying to be funny and wounds up getting hurt or how my mom would tell me I was being innapropriate in a place where I shouldn't be, you know, because we were kind of running down the steps. We didn't really have a choice though because it was so narrow and hard to walk down. Then Bre took off her shoes to make it down easier. Those stairs seemed to last forever!! All winding so if we went any faster than we did we would have been dizzy. We took comfort in the fact that we had the entire tour laughing at what we were saying.

We met a wonderful person today as well! Her name is Sarah and she was visiting the Netherlands doing research with lasers as a Grad student. She lives in Flordia and we all got along great. When we told her where we were staying she said she'd like to visit! We told her we'd show her around so that is on the plate for tomorrow but in the meantime we thought we'd hop on a train and head to Gouda.

Yes, Utrecht and Gouda all in one day! We all are going to sleep very well tonight.

The three of us had a wonderful time in Gouda. We visited the Cheese market and then went to 'tKaaswinkeltje to sample some of the famous aged cheese that the Dutch keep for themselves. It was fantastic! I don't even like cheese other than Velveeta but Gouda is very good! Another thing we noticed about Gouda is that instead of hanging lights across the pathways...they have hung cheese, large wheels of cheese. We hope, for the sake of the smell, that it's not real cheese. After we saw all there was to Gouda...not very much...we sat down for a lovely dinner in the square. Sarah and I indulged in waffles while Bre had soup.

It really was a beautiful day today! The sky was clear blue and the clouds were big, white, and looked like cotton candy. It did start to rain on the way to the train station though...but it was fine because the day was over and we had conquered two cities we wanted to visit...in one day.
Sarah's train comes in tomorrow around noon and we can't wait to show her our little sweet town of Delft.

If you want to check out all my pictures from Utrecht and Gouda you can click this link:
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Love,

Miranda