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.