Ancient City & Music

Walking through the old center of Utrecht, admiring old buildings, sculptures, and ending the day with a concert by a band dating from the previous century.

My sister drove me to Utrecht as she wanted to buy me a new hat at a special hat shop!

After this purchase, we had a coffee break alongside one of the canals.

Utrecht has a great historical center, in the back you can see the 16th-century Hotel Kasteel van Antwerpen (which is since 1950 no longer a hotel!).

Exploring seriously narrow alleys, such as the Jodenrijtje...

My sister had to return home and I continued with my old friend Hendrik, together we visited the Domkerk. (St. Martin's Cathedral *)

Weird, parts of the floor consist of massive tombstones.

The Domkerk, built in 1254, is a striking Gothic church in the middle of Utrecht

The stained glass windows are very impressive.

A lot of the restorations are done by hand!

Outside view of the Dom.

The streetlights alongside the canals have fascinating sculptures underneath them.

Canal view...

Overgrown drainage system...

Nature and old ornaments go well together.

A close-up revealed a whole bunch of daddy-longlegs!

Old houses with bricked-up windows, this was done due to tax reasons! (**)

My friend Hendrik admiring the views.

Leisure boat traffic in the canals.

Of course, we had a few drink stops!

Bikes and murals...

Very clever!

Later that day we went to Vredenburg to see a concert by Sparks. (***)

Sparks were formed in the late 60s by the brothers Ron and Russell Mael.

By now they've released about 25 albums!

Although in their 70s, the Maels are still full of energy and gave an amazing concert! (****)

(*) https://domkerk.nl/

(**) Similar to the Netherlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax

(***) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparks_(band)

(****) https://lflmagazine.nl/live-recensies/sparks-tivolivredenburg-2023

And this is the title song of their latest album, brilliant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTAxPhxADo0