After a cold night but with a sunny day ahead, today I decided to explore the local area. My first stop was Amersfoort, which is a small city that was established about 1200. Deciding that they wanted a more secure city they decided to build a canal around the city with fortifications. They started in 1380 and finished in 1450, and many of the buildings inside the canal are still the original buildings. On this wonderfully sunny morning it was a pleasure to walk around this beautiful enclave of traditional Dutch design, with many shops and eateries. In later years when there was no further threat then many bridges were built to cross the canal and from there the city expanded. It didnt take too long to walk around the old city, as its actually quite small, but buildings are immaculate and extremely well cared for.
There is also a large and impressive spire towering over the centre of the town, which was their main Cathedral. It was built in the 1400’s, but the main building had a fire in the mid 1500’s, leaving just the spire standing. They decided to build a new Cathedral, leaving the spire in place and where the main part of the cathedral used to be is a small town square, which is now full of street-food vendors offering all kinds of mouth watering food. As I was leaving the town was starting to come alive, with many people window shopping or sat in the sunshine outside an eatery eating or drinking. It was a beautiful place to visit, and I am so glad I did.
After a ride out into the country and through the nearby national park I headed to Utrecht, which is another medivil city they used a canal as its main form of protection. Utrecht is much bigger than Amersfoort and much more established. The city established itself in the 1400’s, and with many of the original buildings still in existance, as you walk down throught the narrow bustling streets there are a wide variation of buildings, with the oldest from the 1400’s in the center and as you walk to the periphery towards the outer canal, the buildings get newer, through to the 1700’s. And of course, theres the canal which meanders around and through the city, with many canoeists, fishermen and tourist barges gently bobbing along through the water. By the time I got there it was quite busy with lots of Dutch people and tourists window-shopping, eating and just strolling in the October sunshine.
Two lovely places to visit, and if you are into eating or shopping, its two places where you can spend lots of money amidst beautiful surroundings….
AMERSFOORT
UTRECHT
