Marken

Last saturday, we have visited the gorgeous city of Marken. It was actually an island, but now it is connected with the country by a causeway. On the causeway there is a bike route too. It was wonderful to ride with water on both sides.

Marken can be reached also on water. For those, who does not have an own sailing boat: Volendam Express cruise boats start every 45 mins to and from Volendam. Bikes can also be transported for additional fees. (http://www.markenexpress.nl/home) 

Marken is also famous for its clog (wooden shoe) factory. It is a great place to buy something really dutch as a souvenir to your friends and family.

If you get hungry, you should also get ready for hungry sparrows joining you for lunch. They were flying from table to table. It was cute how they hunted for falling pieces.

If you look for the most suitable word for Marken, it might be CHARMING. It must be nice to live in such a nice and peaceful place.

And I guess it was the first time, I saw waterlilies, that are not white. :)

Utrecht

On 11th  of July, the weather was extremely hot here. It reached 28 degrees. We went to Utrecht for some sightseeing.

Our way lead us along a river. It was pretty busy, we saw many huge cargo ship and also smaller hobby ships passing by. On the deck people were drinking beers, sunbathing, reading a book. It must be great to be a ship-owner...

So, river and ships on one side, and green areas with grazing cows, horses and sheeps and family farms on the other. If we looked ahead, a green alley of trees showed us the way, and at the same time provided us some shadow from the sun.

On 4th of July, exactly one week before our trip, Tour de France started from Utrecht. Shops were still full of TdF t-shirts and other souvenirs.

The most significant sight of the city is  the Dom Tower. It is so huge, it was hard to take a photo of it. It is said to be the highest church tower in the country.

The Dom garden was gorgeous. The open corridors and windows around the garden look a bit like in Hogwarts, arent' they? 

As I have mentioned, it was 28 degrees. After arriving home, we realised, we got tanned. Maybe it would have been a better idea to go to the beach. So, I hope it was not the last hot day of this summer.

Amersfoort

2 weeks ago we visited the beautiful city of Amersfoort.  Actually, we just wanted to go cycling somewhere, I ran my eyes over  Google maps, and chose this city. Amersfoort is 40 kms away from us. Lately, I worry less about distances, I feel more fit and trained after the trips, we had already achieved.

I  love travelling from town to town, enjoying the fresh air, cycling along green areas. It is so peaceful.

The medieval city centre was wonderful. I love the old buildings with calm canals running next to them. Where you see canals, boat cruise companies also appear.  I guess, they are the most significant suppliers of the Dutch tourism. It is a nice way to discover a city from the water, and this country has all the potential for it.

Back to Amersfoort... The city has a nice zoo, which is open every single day of a year. We decided to skip it, and chose to just roaming in the old streets.

The most popular sight of Amersfoort is the Koppelpoort medieval gate. It was so lovely. It brought us back to the middle ages. 

As the time flies, we gain more and more wonderful memories to remain us from the years we have spent in the Netherlands. We are truly blessed. :)

York

A couple of weeks ago we travelled to England for a quick family visit. We flow to Liverpool and then spent a day in the gorgeous city of York. The middle of the city is surrounded by a stone wall. We got an incredible view, while walking on it.

The National Railway Museum can be visited without adminission fee!!! Beside old trains and locomotives, you can see the saloons of the royal family members (Queen Elizabeth, King Edward...) The museum also has a replica of George Stephenson's Rocket.

You can find many other items from the old times' railway stations, such as scales, ticket machines, and signs.

Kids will also enjoy this place, since a little playstation has been set up for them, They can build their own little train, and I guess they will be fascinated by the model railroad.

The chocolate museum, named York's Chocolate Story is perfect for chocolate-lovers. like me :)

During the journey among some chocolates, you can taste the bitter water, which is cocoa bean with hot water. It tasted like coffee and people drank it for the same purpose.
Moreover, there was a fun machine, which demonstrated how cocoa beans are turned into chocolate.

We got a chance to make your own chocolate pop. While waiting for it, to become solid in the fridge, visitors can learn about how pralines are made, and then can taste them too. Yummy! :D 

We went to Jorvik, the Viking Museum. Jorvik is the Viking name of York. At the first part we had to sit into a vechicle, which drove us through a big room. It was dark inside. Moving, and talking wax figures told us the story of the vikings. We got to know a lot about their everyday life. To make this experience more real, there were also smells with the scenes. For example at the blacksmith's or at the butcher's house. Funny thing was a man on the lavatory. We got that one with the smell too...

At the other part  of the museum, many artifacts were on display, like weapons, jewelleries, tools.

2 full viking skeleton and other skeleton parts. Reading about how to find out genders, ages, causes of death etc. was really interesting.

We were full of new experiences and informations, but also got hungry.You just can't go home from England without trying the classy fish & chips. I love it!!!

So that is all about our little British runaway. Most of the tourists go to London, but believe me, York is also worth a visit! :)