It's always sad to leave Germany but it has also been nice being back in the Netherlands, where I no longer have to hurt my brain trying to speak German! Everyone here speaks excellent English, so it's a little like being back home already.
We had a long and snowy ride from Trier to Utrecht, about four and a half hours total, with a change in Cologne. The regional trains weren't nearly as nice as the InterCity trains, but we did have the little first-class section to ourselves.
I was a little stressed until we got to Cologne, because we only had 7 minutes for that transfer and if the first train was late at all, we might not make it! And that would mean having to wait in Cologne for three hours for the next train. Happily, however, it was on time and we made it with no problems.
This time we were on a high-speed ICE train. We shared a compartment with two businessmen and it was quite comfy. We arrived in Utrecht at rush hour, and the train station was crazy! It was far bigger than I ever would have imagined and crowded with people. It took us a remarkably long time to find the right exit for the taxis.
We stayed in the Court Hotel, which was comfortable and modern. The room was really cold, though, as the big window was not insulated (Utrecht is not used to this kind of cold, I don't think) and the heat wasn't on when we arrived.
A quirky element was provided by a stencil of Larry King's mug shot from 1971. I didn't know he had been arrested, but I looked it up - he was charged with larceny for passing bad checks. You learn something new every day!
Utrecht itself was good. I hadn't been there before so it was fun to see a new Dutch city. Unfortunately we didn't see too much of it, though, because we were running out of steam at the end of our trip and it was just too bloody cold to walk very far! The main day we were there, it only reached a high of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, combined with a strong breeze. Brrrrrr! But at least it was sunny part of the time, which was a nice change and good for photos.
Thankfully our hotel was on one of the main canals and very close to the main attraction - the old cathedral church and tower - so we didn't have to suffer too much to get a general idea of the city. The main canals in Utrecht are interesting - unlike like other Dutch cities, they are a full level below the street.
The tower used to be connected to the cathedral, but the nave collapsed in a storm in the 1600s and was never rebuilt. So there is now a big empty space between the tower and choir.
I am now writing from Amsterdam, where we are in my beloved citizenM hotel next to the airport. Because the rooms are smaller and cheaper than most, we each have our own room here.
We are on the top floor and have great views of the airplanes taxiing, taking off, and landing. It is really fun to watch. Tomorrow we will be on one of those planes, hooray! Our flight leaves at 10:30am and we'll be in Portland early tomorrow afternoon.
It is still very cold here, and currently snowing again, but so far the delays for flights out of Europe seem to be minimal - hopefully that will be the case tomorrow as well.
I'll do another blog post after I get home about Amsterdam and our flight, but I don't promise it will be right away! I'm really excited just to relax for awhile. It has been a good trip, but there's no place like home.