With a day off I decided to continue on my Dutch Bucket List quest and decided to go for the next city. Amersfoort can be found in the province of Utrecht (Central Netherlands) and is its second largest city. The city is famous for being a medieval city and in 2009 it celebrated its 750th birthday!
During the train ride that lasted approximately an hour from Rotterdam, I had a look at the Amersfoort map and was surprised to see that the center of Amersfoort is shaped in a circular way with level of channels.
Walking from the train station to the city one of the first things I can across was the Marienhof. It is located on one end of the old center and is a fine dining restaurant that was awarded a one Michelin star.
Walking further through the streets my friend and I came across the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren or the English version, the Tower of Our Lady. The tower which stands out in the city is a gothic building with 98.33 meters in height (making in the third highest in the country). When approaching the tower, I was surprised to see that the tower stands alone but later found out that the church that was a part of the tower was destroyed in the 18th Century through gunpowder explosion.
Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren in Amersfoort
In front of the tower is a square that I can imagine is lively and vibrant with good weather but unfortunately at that point it began to rain.
Deserted due to the bad weather, such a shame
From there we talked towards the main sight in the city which is the Koppelpoort. The Koppelpoort is a Medieval gate with both land and water gates. It is a part of the wall that surrounds the city of Amersfoort and was built in 1425.
The Koppelpoort in Amersfoort
After the Koppelpoort and all the rain we headed back towards the city center which is quite small. There are several shops but mostly basics.
Map of the shopping area in Amersfoort
We had looked up some reviews for a nice place to have some tea and went to Café Corazon in the center.
Having tea at Café Corazon, Amersfoort
The Café was so nice and made up for all the rain! Firstly, you must have the apple pie (can be seen as my friends choice in the picture above) as it is simply to-die for! It apparently won an award for the best apple pie in the country. If you are a tea lover there were so many tea’s to choose from and it was very cozy.
Books Books Books!
Not only that but they also have shelves with books you can take away. I was in heaven.
Lastly on the way back to the train I stopped by the Amersfoortse Kei which is a 9-ton boulder that was brought to the city by 400 people in 1661 from the moors. It is what eventually turned Amersfoort into the Boulder City.
Amersfoortse Kei
