Excursion #4 - Utrecht

The fourth excursion for SPICE took us to the city of Utrecht, an hour train ride from Zwolle. One would think that I would get tired of looking at the history around me, and that I would get tired of hearing stories about places that I have never heard about, or that I would get bored with the same scenery. Well, the day that that happens will be the day that I stop learning. I hope never to stop learning. I hope that I will always find at least one thing to brighten my day on the excursions and on my trips.

A guy walks into a bar. He looks around a little confused... walk out double checks that the sign says bar and walks back in. He walks up to the bartender and asks, "do you serve drinks here?" The bartender says, "We serve most anything from Beer on down!" The man says, "Oh good, I almost thought this was a church." The bartender replies, "Good thing you didn't walk in a few decades back!"

True story... Okay, well not really. However, the first stop on our Utrecht excursion was to a bar that used to be an old Catholic hiding church.

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A lady, so in tune with the will of the Father that she places her self in a position of humility towards her God for continuous prayer.

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The Dom Kerk was divided in half. Literally, divided in half due to a large storm that caused part of the building to collapse. The bell tower remains separate from the church. When you enter the gardens of the church you might be a little confused and want to start waving a wand around. I felt transported to the world of Hogwarts for a few minutes.

Three hundred and sixty five steps. Thats right. 365. Up and Up and Up. The Dom tower is the bell tower to the Dom Kerk. This tower is the tallest one in the Netherlands. The view from the top... Well, I'll just say that I'm glad there was a fence!

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A tradition for our excursions is to sit, warm up, and drink something (koffie, thee, etc). This café, was built on top of and in the old Roman sector of the city. The basement still holds two Roman pillars. Talk about history!

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The Rietveld Schröder House: Imagine a house that could change. Walls can move, windows can become walls, beds are couches, the ceiling opens up to let in light. And then change it all back. Rietveld was a man ahead of his time. A modern building in the midst of traditional Dutch construction, yet it holds true to the Dutch belief that space is everything.

The City of Utrecht from the Dom Tower

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Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. 

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#Utrecht