The cycling town of Houten

Houten, where Aaron and Kylie live, is an unique place, a town built for cycling.     There is a road that circles the town and cuts through the centre, to form a design that is similar to a figure of 8.   There are small roads that go into each suburb, so that people can access their houses by car.   However, it is not possible to drive from one suburb to another.  The area is beautifully landscaped with parks and green spaces. 

Sadly I have noticed an increase in cars in the car parks, and around the shopping areas, plus an increase in the number of mopeds and fat bikes which are ridden by the young who like to travel very fast on the bike paths.

However,  most people within the town ride a bike to work, to the train station, to school, o visit friends and do the shopping.   The list goes on!   I so love it.

Aaron hired a two person bicycle, electric, to take Walter for a tour around the other side of Houten.  Walter is feeling a little nervous in this photo.

Three were avenues of pink blossom three days before we rode here.    However the new bright green leaves were still spectacular.  The clear blue skies and sunshine helped too.

A few trees still had their blossoms.

An historic building beside the canals.

There are raised areas which gave a different perspective to the general landscape.   The raised areas were covered in grass, trees and flowers and consisted of avenues and hills.    It gave quite a different perspective to the town.    There were different building styles too, depending on the architect or building.

The town was planned originally by Robert Derks, who was still alive and very much active in trying to keep the concept alive.     At the moment Kylie is helping to translate into English, the book he wrote.

One of the raised areas, with an avenue of trees.

Another raised area.

Another architectural design of housing.

Back to the cycle path.   These little electric cars are allowed on the bike paths.

Popular cafe/bars in old Houten.

The old Catholic Church in old Houten.

A view of the van der Valk Hotel.   We stayed there once.   Quite a flash hotel.

So many avenues of trees here.

The old Houten railway station.   Now a cafe.   

Two ducks happily swimming on a canal.

Camping de Vliert, where we used to stay in our caravan.   We also sold our caravan to the owner, and hired it back in 2019.   Interestingly we then had to pay for the hire of the van plus site fees.   Not cheap.   We were meant to stay there in 2020 but of course it was cancelled due to the pandemic.  A lovely campsite though. 

And yet another avenue, although this one is outside of Houten and also has cars travelling on it too.

I will miss cycling around here!   Looking forward to the next visit though.

Amersfoort

What can I say about Amersfoort!    Not the same as Zutphen, but it has its own character all the same.   It has a beautiful old city centre, full of character and very prosperous.

Amersfoort is not far from Utrecht and is one of the largest Dutch railway junctions with three stations due to its location.   

It was a large garrison town before WW11 , which made the citizens of the city very vulnerable. There was a large Jewish population in the city, and more than half of them were deported or killed.  There was also a Nazi Concentration camp near the city.    The city, however, was not bombed.  

Amersfoort was named after a ford in the Amer River, which is called the Eem today.   The city grew around the Hof, where the Bishops of Utrecht established a court in order to control the area. It was granted city rights in 1259.

It was a family day out.    We went with Aaron and Kylie in the car, while Abi and Raphy travelled by train.       

An empty bike rack.   Practical and decorative.

When we returned later it was full of bikes.

A Chandelier under the bridge.  Most unique.

A canal view. 

Espaliered trees everywhere.

Stepped gables on this ornate building.   There were both boat tours and electric train tours.   

A post lunch photograph.   We were all feeling happy and full after our hot chip lunch.   Delicious.

And then we were off again, in order to view the shopping streets.

I took a photograph of the narrow street with the tower behind, and realised that the Aaron, Abi and Raphy were looking at me.   The best part of the photograph.

The tower is called Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren (Tower of our Lady) and is one of the tallest towers in the Netherlands and is 98 metres tall.  When it was built it was the middle point of the Netherlands and a reference for the Dutch grid system.   The nickname for it is Lange Jan (Long John).

The tower and the church were built around 1444.   The church was destroyed in an explosion in 1787.  The layout of the church can be seen today by the use of different coloured paving bricks in the square in front of the tower.

A street of medieval houses which appear to be attached to a church.

Now where to next?

An interesting display of Henry vacuum cleaners with unusual lights above them.

A relaxing side street.

The wisteria is coming out in flower.

The little Dutch houses lined up in the bakery.

Coffee time, plus apple cake.    A very busy cafe, but they managed to find a little relaxing corner for us.

Raphy enjoying his apple cake, with plenty of canned cream.   The Dutch love their spray cream.

It was a lovely family day out, in a beautiful city.

The Magical City of Zutphen

 Now why is Zutphen magical?   I am not sure.  It is a beautiful city but there is an aura of magic too.    Perhaps it is the combination of beautiful old buildings, together with little side streets leading to mysterious places, or the clean cobblestones, in many designs.   

Zutphen is situated beside the Berkel and Ijssel Rivers, and is surrounded by green woodland.   It is one of Netherlands' oldest cities.  

Zutphen began about 300 AD as a Germanic settlement, and then became the local centre under the Count of Zutphen.   The Normans raided and ravaged it in 882, which is a fairly normal Viking activity, but they did not settle there.    A fortress was erected to stop any more attacks.   

The settlement received town rights about 1191, and later became part of the Hanseatic League, which was a medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe.  And so the history goes on, through sieges and wars, including being bombed during the WW2.    

After WW2 an extensive renovation program took place.  Now it is one of the best preserved medieval town centres of north western Europe. 

No wonder it is a magical place. 

                                        

I had great fun photographing scenes but had no idea of the significance of many of the buildings or streets!     Plus Wikipedia and the English guide has not helped me at all.

                                                

Stepped gables.   Very Dutch.

Aaron was our leader for the day, and took us around the town, without getting lost.   in the photograph below he is standing, with Walter, in front of 'the business building'.

The church tower at the end of the street.

The town hall.

The registry office.   All marriages must first take place in the registry office, as well as in a church, if the couple which to do so.

The council chamber.

The bell tower of Sint Walburgiskerk, originally built in 1050 AD, but had to be rebuilt a couple of times due to fire damage.

The paving patterns were fascinating.

We visited a beautiful house which is now a museum and art gallery.   The house is behind me, in this photograph as I am looking towards the church tower.

The inside of the entrance gate was covered in shells and stones, in order to make elaborate patterns.

I was given a device so that I could listen to explanations in English.   However I spent most of the time trying to match the device to the signal posts.

My only photograph was the beautiful dolls house.

This gate led to an old nursing home for men.

Another building with a stepped gable.

We stopped here for coffee before driving home.   A beautiful and restful square.

Aaron and Walter enjoying their coffees.   Walter had to accept a weaker coffee, due to the waiter not wanting to give him two shots of coffee.   The rule was 'you can only order what is on the menu'.   

A leaning Amsterdammertje!