Car-free in Utrecht

Yesterday we enjoyed Mario's cooking again for breakfast. Chilaquiles! After, we turned in our rental car. We were going to use it for today's trip to Haarlem, and on Monday drive to Amsterdam to turn it in -- but it occurred to us that it makes much more sense to turn it in here in Utrecht and do the rest of the travel by train. This is not a city you want to be driving in. One-third of its people are on bicycles, and it's pretty crazy on the road for car drivers.

After we turned in the car, we bought our train tickets, then went on a bit of a walking tour. We visited the Domkerk (St. Martin's Cathedral), and enjoyed a choir rehearsal. The 22-voice choir was very good, and was accompanied by the pipe organ, a harp, cello and double-bass. An unexpected delight. I love how cathedral acoustics work -- the sound just hangs in the air for a moment. Lovely.

The choir director would stop them, explain what he wanted them to do differently, then start again from just before the problem area. So interesting to be able to hear them actually working on a piece, rather than just performing.






After, we went to the Spoorwegmuseum (railway museum), which is located in an old station. Another unexpected delight. There was a little one-man play with a really wonderful actor playing a conductor of the Orient Express. The set rotated between inside and outside the train. Super professional performance.

There were tons of trains (literally), but one of the highlights for me, since we have been so focused on war this trip, was a little worn, wooden baggage car tucked away at the back of the yard outside. It reportedly transported human cargo to concentration camps in WWII.

After the museum, we went for a little coffee, had more of Mario's delicious cooking (risotto -- yum!) and in the evening, we walked to the local ice cream maker and had ice cream cones. A very satisfying day!!