Amersfoort, Netherlands

I have a lovely Dutch friend named Charlotte who decided to take me home with her this weekend and show me her town and neighborhood. She lives in a place called Amersfoort, which isn't too far outside of Utrecht. Lori and I arrived at the train station and Charlotte was there to meet us. There was a large, weird sundial type thing outside the main entrance. We got to learn a bit of history about the town when we got there and took a little stroll through the city. It is a really beautiful, relaxed city. It was just a really nice place to take a walk and see the sights. We walked through part of the city and came to a big, old city wall. We admired it for a bit and continued to walk around the city, where we found a knit bombing and I got very excited.

Charlotte showed us the very center of the Netherlands that is marked with an X on the ground, so I touched it. We walked around the shops from there and took a break for some hot chocolate at Bagels & Beans. We then found another knit bombing on a walk through nature. It was wrapped around the feet of a big bull statue. We shopped for a bit, but things closed early because it was Sunday, so we headed back to Charlotte's house in Kattenbroek for dinner. Her house was very modern and the back opened up to a huge field where people were walking their dogs and gardening. We walked her dog outside too and saw some sheep and lambs. After our little stroll, we came back to the house for a traditional Dutch dinner of Stamppot, which is mashed potatoes and turnip greens. We finished off dinner with a hazelnut pie, coffee, and some good conversation.

After getting to chat with Charlotte's mom a bit, we headed out to catch a bus back to our train to Utrecht. It was such a nice break from the college atmosphere to be able to go home with someone and relax and have a home cooked meal. I could not imagine a better way to spend a Sunday and I'm so grateful to have a friend like Charlotte that would take Lori and I home with her.