We started the morning by going to White Label Coffee, which we heard is a famous coffee shop that roasts their own coffee beans and has excellent coffee and espresso. Also, it is a block from where we are staying. Joel said the espresso was very smooth (whatever that means!). Then we went to the train station and met up with Chiara and Alberto and went to Utretcht for the day. The train was surprisingly short, less than 30 minutes.
Utrecht is a very small town (population around 300,000) that is known for the cathedral which is famous for a 14th century bell tower that is now across from St. Martin’s cathedral. The cathedral and the bell tower used to be connected by a large building, but it was destroyed at some point and now the church is Protestant and in use.
They have a railway museum there that we visited first. The museum started in 1927 with just a few items depicting railway history, but now it is a very large building that used to be the central train station and they have train cars and engines from throughout railway history. The museum was swarming with small children, but we managed to enjoy the content of the museum anyway. There was an exhibit that talked about the original steam engine in general and how it was then used to propel a train on tracks. The audio guide told a wacky story about a very elaborate and early steam engine where a horse was actually inside the engine to turn the machine by walking, but eventually the horse fell through the chamber and onto the tracks so that design was not repeated.
There was an exhibit on the Orient Express but none of it was in English. There were also some educational “rides” designed for kids/families that talked about some train history but the lines were long so we skipped those. My favorite part of the museums as seeing the train yard outside where they had many different types of passenger trains, cargo train cars, and engines. The most memorable engine we saw, for me, was one that was given to several countries, including the Netherlands, after WWII when most of what they had had been destroyed. It looked like a regular train engine, but it was built from cheap materials and was designed only to last for 8 years instead of the normal >20 years. Here are some pictures from that museum.
After the museum, we found a place for lunch, then went inside the church. It was a very old and beautiful church with an amazing organ. There were several people gathered around a smaller organ who were practicing singing what I assume were hymns. It was great to really hear the acoustics of the church while we walked around. At that point, we decided to split up because Chiara and Alberto wanted to go see a museum with clocks and barrel organs but we needed to get back to a place with WiFi for Joel to do some class registration stuff. We tried to go up the Dom Tower but the tour was already full, and so was the underground tour that was advertised to include “interactive flashlights” which Joel was intrigued about. So we decided just to go back to the train and go back to where we were staying for Joel to use the WiFi and for me to catch up on the blog some.
We met Chiara and Alberto for dinner at a Mediterranean place that turned out to be very weird, but the food was very good. Then we walked around a while and came across a waffle shop. I know it isn’t Belgium, but I decided I wanted to try the waffles I kept seeing people walking around with that were covered in chocolate. So I opted for one covered with chocolate with stroopwafels on top. Joel and I shared it because it was SO sweet. We found a bar and sat down for a beer then headed back to sleep.
Utrecht is a very small town (population around 300,000) that is known for the cathedral which is famous for a 14th century bell tower that is now across from St. Martin’s cathedral. The cathedral and the bell tower used to be connected by a large building, but it was destroyed at some point and now the church is Protestant and in use.
They have a railway museum there that we visited first. The museum started in 1927 with just a few items depicting railway history, but now it is a very large building that used to be the central train station and they have train cars and engines from throughout railway history. The museum was swarming with small children, but we managed to enjoy the content of the museum anyway. There was an exhibit that talked about the original steam engine in general and how it was then used to propel a train on tracks. The audio guide told a wacky story about a very elaborate and early steam engine where a horse was actually inside the engine to turn the machine by walking, but eventually the horse fell through the chamber and onto the tracks so that design was not repeated.
There was an exhibit on the Orient Express but none of it was in English. There were also some educational “rides” designed for kids/families that talked about some train history but the lines were long so we skipped those. My favorite part of the museums as seeing the train yard outside where they had many different types of passenger trains, cargo train cars, and engines. The most memorable engine we saw, for me, was one that was given to several countries, including the Netherlands, after WWII when most of what they had had been destroyed. It looked like a regular train engine, but it was built from cheap materials and was designed only to last for 8 years instead of the normal >20 years. Here are some pictures from that museum.
After the museum, we found a place for lunch, then went inside the church. It was a very old and beautiful church with an amazing organ. There were several people gathered around a smaller organ who were practicing singing what I assume were hymns. It was great to really hear the acoustics of the church while we walked around. At that point, we decided to split up because Chiara and Alberto wanted to go see a museum with clocks and barrel organs but we needed to get back to a place with WiFi for Joel to do some class registration stuff. We tried to go up the Dom Tower but the tour was already full, and so was the underground tour that was advertised to include “interactive flashlights” which Joel was intrigued about. So we decided just to go back to the train and go back to where we were staying for Joel to use the WiFi and for me to catch up on the blog some.
We met Chiara and Alberto for dinner at a Mediterranean place that turned out to be very weird, but the food was very good. Then we walked around a while and came across a waffle shop. I know it isn’t Belgium, but I decided I wanted to try the waffles I kept seeing people walking around with that were covered in chocolate. So I opted for one covered with chocolate with stroopwafels on top. Joel and I shared it because it was SO sweet. We found a bar and sat down for a beer then headed back to sleep.
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