Day Three of Amsterdam

This year, rather than doing the standard Amsterdam list of visits, I tried to build in a couple of day trips out of the city. 1. to keep things fresh and interesting 2. to expand our understanding of the Netherlands. I just thought it would be fun to see more of the country we've grown to love. In some ways, its similar to the Texas experience. People love Austin, because it's hip and fun etc etc etc. And it is. But there's so much more to the state. So many more cities with their own personalities and characters. Doesn't lessen Austin at all, just enriches the overall experience by adding other cities.

So we began our day trip by boarding the train to Utrecht. The tickets were bought in advance, so it was just a matter of uploading the tickets to my phone and scanning in on the way through the train station. Easy peasy. I've written about the rail system in the Netherlands and cannot express how jealous I am of a country that really invests in infrastructure. The trains are clean, quick, and easily accessible. Everyone rides them, everyone. Kids going to school, people going to work, tourists, etc. Everyone rides the trains. Ugh, sometimes it feels like the United States just doesn't get it.

When we arrived in Utrecht, we were immediately struck by the combination of old and new, ancient and modern. The train station opens directly into one of the most massive two story malls I've ever seen. Every name brand you could imagine and people humming between the shops. It was super packed for being relatively early in the day (around 10a), but we quickly made our way through into the city itself. Utrecht is dominated by the tallest clock tower I've ever seen outside of Big Ben. Just a massive tower (sadly being restored when we visited) called the Dom Tower. Currently it's encased in scaffolding, which funny enough is exactly what happened when we visited Big Ben in 2020. The tower has a road through the bottom which opens to a square dominated by a large church, St. Martin's Cathedral. Originally built in the 13th century, I won't lie in saying that I wish I had known about the Cathedral to build it into my plans. We poked around a bit anyway, as Lola always allows my church hunting to go unchecked. Outside the Cathedral is a large runestone (apparently a replica from 1936). 

The main reason for our visit to Utrecht was because it was the hometown of Dick Bruna, who created the very popular children's book/cartoon character, Miffy. Due to the success of the his children's books, the city has a Miffy Museum, dedicated to the character. It's clearly meant for children, but Lola and I enjoyed walking through the whimsical play areas, filled to the brim with playing kids. The whole trip through the museum took 20 minutes, though we spent another 20 in the gift shop. We left with several bags stuffed with Miffy gear and headed to our other stop in Utrecht.

Again, due to the popularity of Bruna's word, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht also had large display of his work and a replica of the office he drew in. The rest of the museum was focused on modern art displays, which weren't as much to our liking, but to each their own. I was struck, as I was throughout this trip, how the state focuses on funding public institutions throughout the country. Utrecht, though a large city, is off the beaten path for most travelers coming into the country. Instead, we found at least two amazing museums that were world class in layout, content, and feel. Zero reason our country couldn't be that way, we just refuse to.

After finishing the Centraal Museum, we considered eating in Utrecht, but the restaurant we had planned in visiting was packed by the time we got back to it, so we decided instead to take the train back to Amsterdam to figure out food. When we arrived, we decided to head back to apartment and have a nap instead.

That evening, I had made a special reservation at a pretty exclusive place called Pancakehouse Upstairs. The whole restaurant only has four tables and you MUST have a reservation to get in. They specialize in pancakes (more like crepes, in our minds) and that's about it. This day, along with this meal, was special because this was our 6th wedding anniversary. I had booked the whole trip to Amsterdam as a way to celebrate our relationship with a visit to one of our favorite places on earth. It was an awesome day.

When we arrived for our reservation, we went up some of the steepest stairs in a country full of steep stairs. Breathless, we arrived at the tiny room and had a seat. The server and cook were within speaking distance and we looked over the menu and ordered. Lola ordered the "King" which had strawberries and cream. I ordered the "Kai" which had cheese, bacon, and honey. We also ordered the daily special which featured spiced pears with cream. I have really made it a point to order outside my comfort zone when in new situations, to really expand my experience and find new favorites. My pancake was certainly interesting. The cheese and honey combined in an odd way that really highlighted the "feet" taste you get from aged cheese. Lola's pancake was delicious (she shared a bite).

After we finished our meal, we exited and did a quick tour of the rowdy Red Light District again. It was  full on a Saturday night, though we noticed it was beginning to wind down a little earlier than expected. We would find out later it was because of the COVID protocols being put in place to stem a recent spike in cases. We decided to head back for the evening. Before heading in for the night, we found our bench across the canal and shared 4 or 5 puffs of our joint and headed in for a nice, relaxing night.