When you live in Belgium, and you want to go away from a weekend, the Netherlands are ideal. Crossing the border takes only a train- or car-ride of two, three hours. When you go the first time, the most obvious choice is Amsterdam and the second one Rotterdam.
But of course the Netherlands have many more cities that are worth a visit. This time we picked Utrecht as our destination. Utrecht is also one of the more populated cities in this country (about 1/5 of them are students) and is known for its university. All in all, it's a mix between Amsterdam (there are canals in Utrecht) and Rotterdam (architecture and people).
We had a hotel next to the main railway station (which is an example of modern architecture, like the railway station of Rotterdam) and this was quite near to the old town city center.
A weekend (from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon) isn't long, but enough to get you a feel of the city. On Saturday morning we made a nice walk through the center, along the canals and took in the sights. One of the main sights is the Dom church with its high tower (alas, under renovation which won't be finished for the next couple of years). Enclosed between the buildings is a nice garden.
As the weather was very nice (sun and a decent temperature) we could take our lunch outside, in a restaurant along one of the canals. It felt a bit like being in Venice!
In the afternoon we made a cruise on one of the many canal boats. The skipper told us about every building we passed and a lot about the history of Utrecht. Most interesting.
Later on we walked a bit more, had a drink at a terrace and spent a quiet night at our hotel room. We're getting older, so we need our rest after a day full of exercise. We bought some bread and spread in the supermarket next door (the entrance of the hotel is actually inside a shopping mall) and made coffee in the room.
On Sunday we went for another walk, and then it was time to head back to Dendermonde. We had a nice weekend, though.
