Cathedral (Domkerk) and Cathedral Tower (Domtoren) Utrecht

This past week we've been having great weather in the city. It hasn't rained for so long, I can't even remember when it rained last!

I'm really enjoying my Amsterdam in the Golden Age class. Our topic was religion on Wednesday (9-28) and we talked about three synagogues close to my apartment and a Lutheran church where I actually have one …

... old...like 30. Ya, now you know why I lie about my age to some of the people I meet. Brugge Coming up is The Netherlands, Luxembourg and some more of Germany. I fly out of Amsterdam Nov 4 for Cairo. I'm still working on my round-the-world ...

... we visited briefly last year but we will be staying the night this time and will have more time to explore that HUGE cathedral. BACK IN UTRECHT: Right now we are sitting in an Internet cafe in Utrecht under the streets right beside the canal....its so ...

... of stairs and are actually right at the edge of the canal water. We checked out the incredible "De Dom Van Utrecht", a catholic cathedral, which dates back to the year 1358 and still has statues and engravings in the floor from this time! It was ...

... one of those things), and jumped on the first train to Utrecht. An hour passed, morning sun glowed over the Netherlands, and as soon as i arrived in Utrecht i had more than a sneaking suspicion that i'd be there for a while. The place was absolutely ...

...     Utrecht was the last city on our list to visit. We had not even touched the north east of the Netherlands let alone those countries to the north and south of us like  Denmark and Belgium. We had had grand illusions of visiting ...

... stop was Utrecht, a small, non-distinctive town with not a lot going for it.  Except for a particularly huge and spectacualr cathedral.  Now we've seen our fair share of religiious buildings in this trip so far, but this was right up ...

... we ask that left us. Fortunately, the price was agreed. We had to cross Central Station, which is the largest of the Netherlands, from one side to another. The photo of bicycle parking is precisely taken on the opposite exit that leads to the Old ...

... Shamrock, an Irish drinking hole conveniently located between the Guesthouse and the Vrijtof. My first night out in the Netherlands was satisfyingly Dutch, with my new found friends helping to aquaint me with the subtleties of Dutch living and ...

... conversation, and one that I will not forget any time soon. On our way back to the tram, we walked past the beautiful Dom cathedral, which was built in the 14th century. Now thinking about it, it's probably one of the oldest things I've seen in my life. ...

... distance proved to be Rotterdam and Amsterdam.  On a clear day you can't see forever, but you can see half of the Netherlands. At the bottom we met up with Liz and my cousin Maggie, recently back from Istanbul, and had lunch before heading to ...