Utrecht and Arnhem

Thursday 1st - Monday 5th September 2011


Our destination on Thursday was Utrecht and we got there without too many difficulties, except the 4 unexpected roadblocks which meant we had to go back the way we came and figure out another route. We got into Utrecht around 4pm, went to the VVV where we booked our cathedral tower climb for the next day, bought some groceries (store was located in red light district - Lawrie saw some interesting things while he was waiting with the bikes!), and rode to our campsite, which was located in the grounds of an old fort (with a moat and everything!) On our way to the campsite, we were stopped and looking at the map, when a guy stopped to help. He gave us directions which included, 'you go past the boats with the girls'. Both of us were wondering what he meant until we rode past 1km of boats filled with working girls. Only in the Netherlands. The weather had been good all day so we set up camp and enjoyed the last of the sun. When the sun went down, it was absolutely freezing though and Kitty was glad for her big sleeping bag.

We rode past Kasteel de Haar - this is the entrance

This is the castle

Campsite

On Friday we rode into town, had a coffee and climbed the cathedral tower. The tower and the cathedral used to be one building but they cut costs on the bit that joined them and it blew away in a big storm in the late 1600s. It makes the tower look more impressive being a freestanding building.

Domtoren - cathedral tower

Inside the tower. Looking up inside the
Michael Chapel

Lawrie playing the miniature bell machine

Maria bell - played by hand

One of the original bells from the 1500s. Still played by hand today

View from the tower into the cathedral garden

What's left of the cathedral

Drum that plays the bells that ring to tell the time

Looking up into the big bell machine on the
top of the tower

Looking down onto one of the Utrecht canals

After lunch we went to the Centraal Museum, where we saw a ship from the 11th century and other exhibits before heading across the road to the Dick Bruna Huis. It was Miffy-licious and interesting to see a children's character as a great piece of graphic design.

Kitty in the Dick Bruna Huis

Miffy wall

Miffy with a Pearl Earring

Goats living in the bunker at our campsite

The fort has been turned into a restaurant

We left Utrecht on Saturday and had an okay ride to Arnhem. The first half until lunch was good riding but the closer we got to Arnhem, the more hills there were. Just as we were nearly at the campsite, we ran into an airforce festival and there were people everywhere! We were very tired when we finally arrived and spent the next day catching up on blogs and planning our route through Germany