Day 130 & 131 : Antwerp

According to the legend, the giant Druoon Antigoon was asking taxes to sail on the river.  The people didn’t like having to pay taxes, so the local hero Brabo cuts off Antigoon’s hand and throws it away.  Throwing away a hand = ‘hand werpen’ in Dutch.  And that was how it was said the city “Antwerp” was named! 

How fun!

Arriving into Antwerp, it felt more gritty than Netherlands, and the cloudy weather that I had when I arrived in the city didn’t help with the grittiness. 

There are a few exceptionally interesting buildings and sections, but in my opinion, lesser than what I saw in Netherlands. 

Here’s my personal recommendation of must do and see in Antwerp :

1. Grote Markt and the Stadhuis

The statue in front of the Stadhuis is the infamous Brabo, still deciding where to throw the hand of the giant Antigoon!

Day 128 & 129 : Rotterdam

Rotterdam Centre is a much smaller city than Amsterdam, and easily walkable.  

Most of Rotterdam was destroyed during the war, so many of the buildings in the city are newly built and some with very interesting architecture, such as the Markthal, a market place with a colourful interior and with apartments built on top of its dome shaped building. 

And the Cube Houses, both located around the train station Blaak.

Day 125 – 127 : Amsterdam

The last time I was in Amsterdam was about 15 years ago.  At that time I was only here for half a day and don't remember much of it. 

Most people relate Amsterdam with windmills, canals, "coffee shops", bicycles, Red Light District, interesting architecture and buildings along canals.  

/Buildings along canals/

 

Zaanse Schans

I was keen to explore Zaanse Schans and Haarlem on a bicycle, while in Amsterdam.

Plotting the routes on Google, it showed it would take 3.5 hours to cycle to those 2 places and back into Amsterdam.  Very doable within a day, or so I thought. 

I had a late night yesterday and had slept in longer than I preferred, so by the time I was ready to get on a bike it was already 12.30pm. 

Abel, whom I had met over dinner and drinks yesterday, had asked me for dinner tonight but I had already other plans fixed. So I invited Abel to join me for the bicycle trip instead, and I was so glad he did! 

Abel told me that the route which Google had plotted to get to Zaanse Schans, Haarlem and back would definitely take longer than what Google had indicated.  Furthermore, the route which Google provided to get to Zaanse Schans was an industrious area and not pretty at all. 

Taking a scenic quick boat ride from behind the train station with my borrowed bicycle, I made my way over to the opposite side of the water where I would meet Abel.

Day 124 : Utrecht

1.5hr from Sittard (near Pieter's work place, and where I said goodbye to Pieter before continuing with my travels) and just a few stations north of Maastricht, I made a day trip and spent a few hours in Utrecht before making my way to Amsterdam. 

It started snowing again today, so I had a nice white view from the window of the train, while travelling towards Utrecht.

I was going to leave my luggage in the lockers at Utrecht train station, so that I could properly explore the city.

Alas, the lockers were about an inch too slim for my fat luggage and I couldn't squeeze it into the door on both the small and largest locker size (all of which had the same door width that didn't help my situation).

It also uses a credit card with pin only system, that doesn't help me either as all my credit cards works with signature and has no pin on them. 

Making my way to the Visitors Information Centre with luggage in toll, I asked the staff for some advice about the town of Utrecht and also asked if there were any other lockers nearby.

They were only aware of the ones at the train station.  Hearing my dilemma and for the short duration I was in the city, they were super kind and allowed me to store my baggage in their office, allowing me to better enjoy their city! 

I promised them I would write a brilliant review on TripAdvisor, so I better get round to that soon! 

Utrecht is a small medieval town and easily walkable.  There's a beautiful canal circle in the middle of the city, with some calling it "Europe most beautiful canal city". 

Day 119 – 123 : Sippenaeken

I had spent close to a week in a small town called Sippenaeken, located in Belgium and close to the border of Netherlands and Germany.



With a population of 250 inhabitants, it's one of the most unexpected places I would had thought to be spending so much time in. 

There is only 1 pub / restaurant in the town, with the nearest shops and supermarkets at least a 20 minutes drive away. 

Oh, and there’s a castle too!



Despite that, I had a wonderful stay here. 

Village Gossip

Being in a small village where almost everyone knows everyone, has its interesting moments.  

A couple of days before my arrival in Sippenaeken, a big fire had engulfed the house of a farmer, with only some parts of the outer structure surviving the effects of the fire.

It was big news and the talk of the town for days, particularly when there was a twist to the story of what had caused the fire.  

Rumour had it that the farmer was secretly growing cannabis in the attic of the house and the fire had originated from there. 

It was a heavily discussed topic when Pieter met up with the locals of the village on the streets or in the local pub, and even when I left, developments to the story were still pending. 

I suppose I will get updates to the story as it develops! ;)

Day 122 : Aachen

The German town located near the 3 country borders (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) is Aachen. 

The cobbled stone old town of Aachen is much smaller than Liege or Maastricht, and easily explored on foot within a couple hours.  

The most prominent buildings in Aachen are the Rathaus (Town Hall) and Dom (Cathedral) being prominent buildings of the area. 

When I first saw the Rathaus, I thought it was the Dom!  It was elaborately designed with a Gothic theme. 

There is even a pub housed in the same building as the Rathaus!  Handy for a few pints of beer after a tough Town Hall meeting.

Day 121 : Liege

Liege, is another city along the River Meuse, located on the Belgium side. 

Day 120 : Maastricht

Maastricht is the southern most city in the Netherlands and is also the city where Pieter grew up. 

Located about a 40 minutes drive from Sippenaeken, we made a day trip into the city.

We entered Maastricht via one of the few fort walls that was built in the 13th century (which says a lot about how old the city is!) and walked into the town centre. 

The oldest city gate (Helpoort or Hell’s Gate) in Netherlands is also located in Maastricht.

It’s also said that the Sint Serbaasbrug stone footbridge across the Meuse River is the oldest bridge in Netherlands.

Day 116 – 118 : Cologne

Cologne was a lot smaller than I expected, small enough for a tourist to cover the main sights within a day.

Perhaps I had been tired of rushing around over the last few months as I noticed I was slowing down my travel pace and staying put in one location for a period longer than needed. 

I slept in on most days in Cologne and only left the house to visit sights close to mid day. 

This is partially resulting from having a very comfortable bed in a private room in Clemen's home, located in a nice part of Cologne not too far from the city centre. 

We had a great time together, often cooking dinners at home, and staying up late into the night having very interesting conversations over good wine.

Day 116 : Heidelberg to Cologne

The train ride from Heidelberg to Cologne took 3 hrs and was mostly along the Rhine River. 

This made it a very picturesque train ride, with beautiful landscapes of houses and occasional castles.  

The locals on the train sitting around me were also really warm and friendly – a few of them had noticed that I had been snapping photos along the way. 

Just as I had paused to review some of my pictures, one of them suddenly pointed out of my window and said “There”! 

We had just passed an interesting style castle and shortly after another castle perched on top of a cliff.

It's said that the route between the cities Bingen and Bonn contains about 40 medieval castles!