It was a sunny morning. I woke after a fun night with my friend who met me for a day in Amsterdam and had a nice and big brunch. Eggs, bacon, the sunshine, friendship, a pretty city, you know, everything a guy could ask for. I thought, "today is going to be good day!" Soon after I gave farewell to my friend in Central Station I went to my platform, mindlessly went into the next train that promptly showed up, a girl complemented my overalls. I thought "man, I didn't have to wait for the train, I'm getting complements, the odds are in my favor." I sat there smiling. Soon I realized I was actually in a one-way train to Utrecht, The Netherlands. Oops, I had managed to hop into a regional train that was taking me no where near my hostel. And by no where near I mean a completely different city! Nothing I could do at that point but to sit there and enjoy the ride. What is Utrecht? is it a city? a town? where am I going? how long will it take? what is my life? ugh. I had all sorts of things going through my head. Soon I came to the conclusion that there was nothing I could do at that point but to sit there and enjoy the ride. An unplanned trip to Utrecht, here I go:
All I really knew about Utrecht before my trainwreck spectacular was by going to the Utrecht Art Supplies store for various school projects and buying paint and other useful materials. At least, I convinced myself, it will probably be colorful and artsy maybe (?). This self consolation sort of worked because upon arriving in Utrecht I was actually a little excited to be there. And, let me just say this right now, going to Utrecht was a perfect idea, thanks fate. Utrecht comes at you out of nowhere. You think, "I am in Amsterdam, lol what is Utrecht?" But to me, the city really did well to impress me. For starters I got off the train and headed down to the street where there is SO much construction taking place. But none of the regular road construction, Utrecht is truly undergoing an architectural revolution, if I might put it that way. No one would've thought that Utrecht had so many cool, modern, and interest buildings, at least not me. It definitly has a LOT of beautiful old architecture as you will see later but I was impressed to see many contemporary projects. Here they are some:
All I really knew about Utrecht before my trainwreck spectacular was by going to the Utrecht Art Supplies store for various school projects and buying paint and other useful materials. At least, I convinced myself, it will probably be colorful and artsy maybe (?). This self consolation sort of worked because upon arriving in Utrecht I was actually a little excited to be there. And, let me just say this right now, going to Utrecht was a perfect idea, thanks fate. Utrecht comes at you out of nowhere. You think, "I am in Amsterdam, lol what is Utrecht?" But to me, the city really did well to impress me. For starters I got off the train and headed down to the street where there is SO much construction taking place. But none of the regular road construction, Utrecht is truly undergoing an architectural revolution, if I might put it that way. No one would've thought that Utrecht had so many cool, modern, and interest buildings, at least not me. It definitly has a LOT of beautiful old architecture as you will see later but I was impressed to see many contemporary projects. Here they are some:
After that I headed right back to where I came from and crossed to the other side of the tracks. Utrecht is so so charming, I could've stayed forever. The old city is as charming as it ever gets. It is situated in the heart of Holland, so I found it pretty fitting that it stole my heart. Founded over 1200 years ago, Utrecht is one of the oldest cities in Holland, a fact which is clearly reflected in the city’s structure and architecture. Although Utrecht is the fourth biggest city in the Netherlands, it has managed to preserve its local character. The compact historical city centre with its many canals, characteristic waterside restaurants and numerous parks give Utrecht a village-like feel. I felt like I had entered right into the cutest small town in the world. I truly felt like a close community, something so endearing to me since most of the time I spend time on big cities that can sometimes get very busy.
I walked around for a while, going over bridges, passing building after building and hearing the sounds of the streets. Something so striking about this city is its big tower. At one point I couldn't help myself but walking toward it unconsciously. It stands so high up into the sky over all the other lively buildings that it's almost hard to ignore. It's called the Dom Tower, the tallest church in The Netherlands. With lack of funding the church never got completed so it is now a complex of a separate big tower and a church. I almost like it so much better this way, in between them there is a plaza where public life can be experienced. You go under the tower through a large portal and into the church which is high and beautiful. The best part for me was wondering around it and finding its garden, a beautiful showcase of classical style gardening and Gothic architecture. It has a zen organic aesthetic, as if the focus is to relax you, calm you, and bring you into terms with the beauty of space. It made me feel like I was in a scene from Harry Potter about to enchant an Expecto Patronum shaped like a cute little fox or something.
The next couple of hours was something else. I got out of the church and just listened. The clock in the tower sings every hour, this caught my attention. Soon I was hearing another song being played, distant and warm. It was a beautiful tune, something you listen to when you open a music box with a rotating ballerina in the middle. I decided to find out where the tune was coming from, so I followed my ears, something I had never done before. Usually I let my eyes do the wondering; this time I heard musical tones and let them pull me into them. I passed closed courtyards, wondering if it was maybe coming from a music school, colorful streets that perhaps had a street performing playing, and other details that fit the whole mood the music had me feeling!
As I found out, Utrecht is home to the biggest best university in the Netherlands, with some facilities situated in the city centre. Many international congresses are organised here, as the university has a fully equipped auditorium and congress centre on site. And there are many special and inspiring locations for meeting up, such as the Media Plaza, the Jaarbeurs Congress Centre / Beatrix Theater, the Railway Museum which has its own congress centre, Paushuize, the Rietveld Schröder House and many other historic locations. In this sense, despite its obvious centuries of tradition, Utrecht is a young and dynamic city.
Soon after a nice little walk, I found it! This is where the music was coming from:
Now, I couldn't be happier that my Study Abroad Map includes: