I have started my new job this week, and therefore I wasn't able to contribute as much as I would want to but today I'm back with another entry to the 'Stay home, share 3 travel photos' challenge. I hope you will enjoy it!
UTRECHT
Utrecht is one of the most charming cities in The Netherlands (for me). It has a beautiful old town with many cafes, restaurants, and stores. And bicycles of course! There are thousands of them, and you can see them everywhere. There are also canals in the city, so it resembles Amsterdam a little bit but I like it better as it's smaller and closer to my in-laws 🙂 Well, it is indeed smaller than Amsterdam but it's big enough and you can find here everything you need during your trip.
We don't come here often but when we do, we always visit a large bookstore close to the place on the photo. I don't remember its name, but it doesn't matter as I can easily find it anyway. But before we go there, we go for a walk first as we always buy too many books and they are too heavy to carry around with us.
My first experience in Utrecht was not all that good though. In winter, 10 years ago, we were on our way from Amsterdam back to my in-laws. It was snowing and it was so cold that it was difficult to breathe outside.
It was one of the few times that we took a train instead of going by car and that was a big mistake. The railways were frozen, and all trains stopped in Utrecht. There were no buses or any other sort of public transportation. I remember how cold it was. We tried to call my in-laws and finally reached them after more than an hour. Due to the traffic it took them another 2 hours to pick us up and by then I was frozen to the bone.
I remember that next day I got terribly ill and we had to rebook our flight back home (at our cost of course). The worst thing was that it was just my second week at the new job! Luckily, my boss understood the situation and I came back to work after a week. This was by far our most expensive trip to The Netherlands!
This might sound like a horror story, but it was just an exception and Utrecht is absolutely worth a visit. But to avoid similar situations, I would suggest that you visit the city in summer 🙂
FRANKFURT
We visited Frankfurt last year for the first time. I have wanted to go there for some time, but it wasn't really my priority. One day, we were on our way to visit a castle in Germany when we realized that we were close to Frankfurt. So, what did we do? You are right! We stopped there for lunch, walked for about 10 km, and continued our journey.
As many other German cities, Frankfurt is a combination of old and new. I personally prefer the old part but there is an interesting high-tech part of the city with several hyper modern skyscrapers. Not that far from that district is the old town. I have enjoyed this square so much! Those colorful houses are really charming. Unfortunately, there was some work going on there, so we couldn't take some decent photos, but what needs to be done, needs to be done. Next time when we get there it will be all like new 🙂
I was surprised to see that Frankfurt is such a modern and multi-cultural city. We heard so many languages on our way, especially English. I guess that there is some university with many international students. If you like different cultures, a lot of buzz, good food, or great parties, Frankfurt is the right place for you!
MOSCOW
It had been my dream to visit Moscow for such a long time but it wasn't so easy to get the visa, so when I got a chance to go there on a business trip, I started to jump up and down (inside of course). Such a great opportunity!
I went there with 3 other colleagues and we planned our evening activities way in advance. We were supposed to stay there for 5 days but I stayed with one of my colleagues during the weekend as well. I must say that it was a great trip and I got to see so many amazing places in this exciting city.
One evening we planned a boat trip on the river Moskva. We chose a boat with a dinner option and it was such an amazing experience.
There’s hardly a better way to absorb Moscow’s atmosphere than on a ship sailing up and down the river. The city grew during the 12th century along the river's winding banks, so a boat trip is the most scenic way to soak in its sites while avoiding the city's rush and traffic jams.
Everything in Moscow, a city of 12 million people, is monumental. The buildings are huge, the parks are so big that you can walk for hours in one direction, the metro stations are the most beautiful in the world and the traffic is horrible. It might sound scary but I must admit that I loved the city and truly enjoyed it. I was also feeling safe at any time of day.
I hope I will be able to visit Moscow one day again. I would love to meet her again!
Thank you for visiting!
Cheers!
good
Utrecht looks like Bruges, if i can compare the two, nice post
How cool, I immediately recognized Utrecht! (I live in Holland, not near Utrecht though...). I wish I only lived here during Summer, because Winter time is no fun over here indeed😅