Day nine: Amersfoort - a charming city
From my initial exploration I knew that I was going to like Amersfoort old city In particular, the human scale of the place with very little traffic - apart from bikes - and lots of lovely houses in cobbled streets nestled between canals.
When I woke up after the best sleep I’ve had since leaving home, I discovered that the market was already set up and doing business. I didn’t hear a thing! A mix of double glazing and earplugs did the trick.
Market in the Hof outside my hotel
Unlike the other hotels I’ve stayed at, Hotel Gaaper had a kettle so I could make a hot drink first thing. The shower was hot and powerful so a good start to the day. I’d googled good cafes and found one called Livingstone which was about 3 minutes away. The cafe was very pleasant and I chatted to the barista who told me that she’d had an incredibly busy day the day before. I had a piece of banana bread to go with my flat white. She had added some sort of a jam and banana to the slice which is quite unusual but nice.
Livingstone Cafe
Flat white and banana bread at Livingstone cafe
The good thing about staying right in the centre of a small city, is the ability to pop back to the hotel very easily for rest or toilet breaks or just to pick up and drop things off. My next stop was the Tourist Information office which is close to the big tower - more of that later. They sold an booklet in English with a walking tour - the organised tours were in Dutch. The day was unsettled so I definitely needed my umbrella.
The start of the walk is at Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren the tower which was built after a ‘miracle’ took place in December 1444. You can climb the 346 steps to the top with a guide and I rather foolhardily booked a place for the 3:30pm climb.
The imposing Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren
There are various important sites that the guide highlights. The first main stop after the tower is the Amersfoortse Kei - a massive 1,157 kilo boulder which has a story attached to it concerning a bet made by Count Myster. I walked through the park alongside the river and passed the former Marienhof Convent which is now an upmarket wine bar. Not long after is the Monnikendam watergate - a beautifully preserved building built as part of the city wall and its defences. I did a slight detour over the canal to get a better view of the watergate from the main road.
The Amersfoortse Kei - boulder
The Waterpoort Monnikendam
The Waterpoort Monnikendam
The route then takes you back into the city where there are lots of examples of pretty houses, some of which were built to form part of the city wall itself. Close by was the Mondriaan House which was on my list of must-dos. It was very interesting to see how the artist progressed from fairly traditional painting to modernist art, leading to the style that most people would recognise as a Mondriaan. The museum is organised in an inventive way that makes the best use of quite limited space. Definitely worth a visit if you are interested in art and the life of Mondriaan in particular.
A reconstruction of Mondriaan's modest living quarters
Projection of Mondriaan cooking
Activity Centre where visitors can make their own lego Mondriaan
Great use of space in the museum
The next part of the walk took me to the Dieventoren - a medieval prison tower which is a square brick built building alongside the nearby wall houses. There are so many landmarks in Amersfoort like the statue of a bull - The Riet -and last remaining land gate called the Kamperbinnenpoort but the next notable one for me was the Koppelpoort, a very well preserved medieval entrance gate which combines a water and a land gate. By now I was getting hungry and stopped at a cafe called DIEP for a hot chocolate and cheese toastie. It was getting close to the time for the tower climb so I went back to the hotel for a rest and comfort break. The rest of the walk would have to wait.
Dieventoren - old prison building
View of Koppelpoort from outside the old city
View of Koppelpoort from inside the old city
De Stier Statue - the Bull
DIEP cafe
I hadn’t quite prepared myself for the reality of walking up 346 steps to the top of the tower! There were small children who seemed to be able to race up but I find spiral staircases with very little light quite hard going. Luckily there are several places where we stopped en route. The guide only spoke Dutch so I had no idea what he was saying but was aware of the miracle that led to the tower being built and how it remained standing after the church accidentally blew up. Up until now I had no idea what a Carillion was but the tower is famous for having two carillons that can be played simultaneously.
The two carillons in the tower
The carillon is a musical instrument consisting of (at least) 23 bells which ‘ring out’ when played on a keyboard. The keyboard is similar to a piano or organ and each ‘key’ (or baton) is linked to a bell with a different pitch. Apparently the carillon has an important role in Dutch culture and the school for learning the carillon is in Amersfoort.
Carillon bells
Bats in the belfry?
19th century graffiti
The tiled dome at the top of the tower
I was quite worn out when we finally made our way to the top but it was worth every step as the view is pretty amazing if somewhat terrifying.
A view of houses and gardens from the top of the tower
For my evening meal I found a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called Rozey’s which is near the Emplein just outside the old city walls. It was quite an usual offer in that you paid a set amount - equivalent to £37 at the weekend - and you are able to order as many small plates as you wish from a choice of 53. Drinks are included with an around £1 extra per drink. The food was great and a welcome change from my recent diet of cheese and bread which is not a good combination at all for me.
Rozey's restaurant near the Emplein outside the city walls
One of the delicious desserts
Several small plates including spring rolls and satay
As I wandered back I followed the bit of the self-guided walk that I hadn’t done already to take in more attractive houses, through the Appelmarkt and Groenmarkt before finally reaching the Hof and my hotel and a well-deserved rest.
This featured blog entry was written by Cath_Greig from the blog My first interrail experience.
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