Day 11 - Utrecht

I've had a wonderful day in Utrecht today - made all the nicer by the fact that I had nice people to spend the day with rather than wandering around aimlessly on my own.

I woke up in a warm and soft fold out bed in a flat on the excellently named street Johncoltranestraat (next to DukeEllingtonstraat and off the Jazzsingel).  Much nicer than waking up in a field in some sweaty and increasingly unhygienic smelling tent.

I spent the morning drinking coffee and catching up with all the internet stuff I'd missed in the 11 days I've been away.

Later I borrowed one of my friend's bikes and cycled into Utrecht with them.  Cycling around the Netherlands compared to London is like night and day.  No-one screamed insults at me, no-one tried to crush me with a van - I didn't even get randomly assaulted once!  The omnipresent and wide-ranging network of cycle lanes means you can get around both easily and with pleasure.

When we got into the city centre I was surprised - Utrecht is absolutely beautiful.  We had a look around a half destroyed cathedral (a C18 hurricane this time rather than Nazis).  Afterwards we headed to a coffee shop and spent a relaxing hour listening to jazz in the basement.  Then we headed out to a park, sat in the sun, fed ducks and drank beer.

Cycling home in the sunset was perfectly lovely - and then we watched some Black Books and In Bruges.  Today I'm hitting the road again pretty soon and heading to Amsterdam.  Can't wait.