Welcome to Utrecht - The city of drearyness, shopping and Killer Bicycles
Utrecht. Not the most exciting place in the world, but i must admit its pleasant in its own way. Ive done as much exploring as the weather allows, which isnt a hang of a lot because the weather is so dreary. Honestly the weather absolutely sucks, ive only seen the sun about five times in the month that ive been in Holland..and every time the sun comes out it does not last very long, and is soon followed by rain or hail or snow or some cold substance falling from the sky. Its so depressing, i really do put all my hope into a glimpse of sunshine, sun makes everything better.
In my first week i was here i explored the city centre. Hannah left a map for me, so i found my way into the centre pretty easily. The maps are really stupid though..they are really big and make everything look like its really far away when really its not. I think its because Holland is such a small country..they try and make everything look bigger when its not. The city centre is amazing! Its basically just shops and the odd restaraunt. But its really beautiful because there are canals everywhere and there are shops and restaraunts along the canals. There are so many shops and so many people in town. People just love to shop here and i see why, people dont need to actually buy anything, but you can waste hours and hours just window shopping.
My first time in town i explored the Hoog Catherine which is the biggest mall i have ever seen. It puts Northlands in Christchurch to shame. in fact, i think it might even be the largest shopping mall in europe..i think i read that somewhere. It is like five malls in one, and i totally got lost in there because i had no idea where to go to find things. I dont so much like the mall though, i prefer to shop along the canal, which basically has the same shops as in the mall anyway. In fact some shops repeat themselves alot, its very confusing. My favourite shop would have to be H&M, which is a really cool department store kind of like glassons but way bigger. There are 3 H&Ms within about 200m, one in the mall and two along the canal. Isnt that ridiculous? There are also markets in town on a monday, friday and saturday which i love to go and look at. It is really good for buying fresh good like fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese etc. And one of my favourite stalls is where you can buy a bag of stroopwafel offcuts for 50c! theyre soooo good. Ive discovered its best to shop during the week because its quieter. Ive banned myself from shopping on a saturday because its just ridicolous, its so crowded and you can move anywhere and i get easily stressed out with lots of people. Ive also decided to put aside just one full day a week to go shopping. I think thats a better idea than going shopping at random times. Its just that it takes me a long time because im such an indesisive shopper and i want to get the best deals. But its harder here cos im constantly trying to compare prices to New Zealand, which is silly. I think i need to stop that. My shopping day is friday. I go to the supermarket often as well. The food is so cheap here which is great because im cooking for myself, and thats always more expensive. My favourite supermarket is the ALDI (because its the cheapest) and the Albert Heijn (because it is so close). There is so much good food here like lots of rich food and pastries and stuff like that, but im trying to eat healthy.
You really need a bike in Utrecht to get around. Everybody here has a bike, like the whole entire population of Holland. They are everywhere, i see more bikes than i do cars! Bicycles are high in the transport chain...they seem to have priority over cars and pedestrians. They have their own bicycle baths and traffic lights!My uncle found me a bicycle for 50euro which i thought was a bit of a rip off, but hey i need a bike. The bikes here are nothing like the bikes in New Zealand, these bikes are not made for any offroad surfaces..purely for getting around the streets. It took me a while to get used to riding my bike, but im a bit of a pro now. Its a good workout too, you need to work really hard if you want to go fast. My bike is an odd piece of work..complete with no gears, a pedal brake, a light which works by a cog that turns when the wheel turns..powered by the friction)...it has a round seat (unusual..but apparently its a ladies seat) and most importantly a bell. I think the bell is the most important thing on the bicycle, you need to use it if you want to overtake slow bikers (i dont attempt that too much..im one of the slow bikers). Everyone here gets bike rage because everyone is so impatient and want to get places fast. I get most most pissed off at those who dont like to use their bell...and they come out of nowhere and overtake you at high speeds. Its dangerous..even more dangerous if youre a pedestrian..if you see a bicycle you need to stay well clear of them. Im really suprised you dont have to wear helmets though. I nearly got killed one day because of an angry biker. I was biking down the Oudegracht (the main shopping street) and swerved to miss some pedestrians and all of a sudden a girl crashed into my back because she was trying to overtake me and hadnt used her bell!!! i was so angry. It was also a saturday..so this was another contribution to my ban of saturday shopping. (Photo - my cool bike)
In my first week i was here i explored the city centre. Hannah left a map for me, so i found my way into the centre pretty easily. The maps are really stupid though..they are really big and make everything look like its really far away when really its not. I think its because Holland is such a small country..they try and make everything look bigger when its not. The city centre is amazing! Its basically just shops and the odd restaraunt. But its really beautiful because there are canals everywhere and there are shops and restaraunts along the canals. There are so many shops and so many people in town. People just love to shop here and i see why, people dont need to actually buy anything, but you can waste hours and hours just window shopping.
My first time in town i explored the Hoog Catherine which is the biggest mall i have ever seen. It puts Northlands in Christchurch to shame. in fact, i think it might even be the largest shopping mall in europe..i think i read that somewhere. It is like five malls in one, and i totally got lost in there because i had no idea where to go to find things. I dont so much like the mall though, i prefer to shop along the canal, which basically has the same shops as in the mall anyway. In fact some shops repeat themselves alot, its very confusing. My favourite shop would have to be H&M, which is a really cool department store kind of like glassons but way bigger. There are 3 H&Ms within about 200m, one in the mall and two along the canal. Isnt that ridiculous? There are also markets in town on a monday, friday and saturday which i love to go and look at. It is really good for buying fresh good like fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese etc. And one of my favourite stalls is where you can buy a bag of stroopwafel offcuts for 50c! theyre soooo good. Ive discovered its best to shop during the week because its quieter. Ive banned myself from shopping on a saturday because its just ridicolous, its so crowded and you can move anywhere and i get easily stressed out with lots of people. Ive also decided to put aside just one full day a week to go shopping. I think thats a better idea than going shopping at random times. Its just that it takes me a long time because im such an indesisive shopper and i want to get the best deals. But its harder here cos im constantly trying to compare prices to New Zealand, which is silly. I think i need to stop that. My shopping day is friday. I go to the supermarket often as well. The food is so cheap here which is great because im cooking for myself, and thats always more expensive. My favourite supermarket is the ALDI (because its the cheapest) and the Albert Heijn (because it is so close). There is so much good food here like lots of rich food and pastries and stuff like that, but im trying to eat healthy.
You really need a bike in Utrecht to get around. Everybody here has a bike, like the whole entire population of Holland. They are everywhere, i see more bikes than i do cars! Bicycles are high in the transport chain...they seem to have priority over cars and pedestrians. They have their own bicycle baths and traffic lights!My uncle found me a bicycle for 50euro which i thought was a bit of a rip off, but hey i need a bike. The bikes here are nothing like the bikes in New Zealand, these bikes are not made for any offroad surfaces..purely for getting around the streets. It took me a while to get used to riding my bike, but im a bit of a pro now. Its a good workout too, you need to work really hard if you want to go fast. My bike is an odd piece of work..complete with no gears, a pedal brake, a light which works by a cog that turns when the wheel turns..powered by the friction)...it has a round seat (unusual..but apparently its a ladies seat) and most importantly a bell. I think the bell is the most important thing on the bicycle, you need to use it if you want to overtake slow bikers (i dont attempt that too much..im one of the slow bikers). Everyone here gets bike rage because everyone is so impatient and want to get places fast. I get most most pissed off at those who dont like to use their bell...and they come out of nowhere and overtake you at high speeds. Its dangerous..even more dangerous if youre a pedestrian..if you see a bicycle you need to stay well clear of them. Im really suprised you dont have to wear helmets though. I nearly got killed one day because of an angry biker. I was biking down the Oudegracht (the main shopping street) and swerved to miss some pedestrians and all of a sudden a girl crashed into my back because she was trying to overtake me and hadnt used her bell!!! i was so angry. It was also a saturday..so this was another contribution to my ban of saturday shopping. (Photo - my cool bike)
posted by simone marie at 11:33 AM
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