Day 30, September 22

Day 30, September 22, 2012, All Day in Utrecht, about 10 miles around town including a boat ride

Today was a beautiful, sunshine fall day.  Many of the sights that we hoped to see and shops did not open until 10 AM.  After a leisurely breakfast, we walked to the old town center.  

 Within a few blocks from the hotel, we were walking along the canals in Utrecht and heading to the center of town.

What a morning it turned out to be.  Lots of little shops and plenty to see through the windows. When we reached the window of Carol Cox, I saw a quilt in the window and thought that we would be seeing another decorating shop.  What a happy mistake.  What a great quilt shop.  Since there is very little time left, I knew I could find room for some goodies in my bag.

 We continued walking down Oudegracht, and on a whim, I went into a hair salon, asked if they had walk-ins and had my haircut!

While I had may haircut, Paul walked around and saw the flower market.  This market happens every Saturday along the canal.  The flower sellers even sing about their wares.

 So once again, my hair is short and when I put on my bike helmet, I won't be looking through my hair.  I'm still going to have to find somewhere for a haircut when we return home because I can't come back here!

The canals here in Utrecht are different from all the other canals that we have seen.  Here there is a lower level that we have not seen before.  Originally these lower levels were the warehouse/storage beneath the homes located on the street level.

 We decided to see Utrecht by boat which a great idea and an interesting ride.  When Utrecht was a major shipping center, there were no trees along the canal.  About 200 years ago, trees were planted and have been along the canals since then.  Also along this lower level are terras for the local restaurants.  Now many restaurants have indoor, street level, and canal level dining.

 When we finished our boat tour, we went to the Domkerk hoping to walk up the tower. This church was started in the 13th century and took over 250 years to complete. It is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands.  Unfortunately all of the tour tickets were gone so we missed the opportunity.  So we took the extra time to wander about the city and saw parks, the Catharijne Convent, walls from Roman times and many smaller churches.

 As we walked around town, we found a Trajectum Lumen passage.  These lights general come on after dark throughout the old city, but this passageway was already bright with color.

Utrecht is full of water.  It is dissected by the Old Canal (12th Century) and the New Canal (15th century) and surrounded by a protective moat.  Our walk back to our hotel was as scenic as our day in the old city.