Hollandaze: Utrecht

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Itrecht, Wetrecht, we all go to Utrecht

This morning, we drove out to the city of Utrecht. It was founded by the Romans in the first century and has at various time been a trade and educational hub. The city center was entirely charming! Our main purpose, however, was not to view the architecture or other fine sites. It was to make a pilgrimage to the Dick Bruna Huis. Dick Bruna is creator of the Dutch character Nijntje (aka "Miffy" everywhere else in the world). Liliane loves Nijntje and now that we have a DVR, will be able to watch her on demand. The museum was very small, but Liliane loved it.

We were first greeted by a statue of Nijntje.

Then we stopped in the reading room, which had Nijntje stories available in Dutch, English, and Japanese.

There was a small room about the creation of Nijntje. Then there was a great play area with a Nijntje house, giant foam blocks, video games and other amusements. Upstairs was a small gallery of other covers that Dick Bruna created before creating Nijntje. Nijntje is over 50 years old. Many people believe that Hello Kitty is based on her. I think there is a resemblance. What do you think? Liliane's on the left, Nijntje (Miffy) in the middle, and Hello Kitty on the right.

We had stopped in Utrecht's Centraal Museum, of which the Dick Bruna Huis is a component, and bought our Museumjaarkartjes earlier in the morning. These cards give us access to over 400 museums nationwide and for less than 40 Euros each. We returned to the Centraal for a quick visit and lunch. A giant wooden statue of a person greets you at the entrance to this museum. The docent inside was very accommodating, especially considering the fact that someone had Nijntje separation anxiety.

Dan and Liliane went on a walk out to Museumplein and Vondelpark after we got back. Amelie and I opted to stay home. Tonight, we saw this beautiful sunset from our kitchen windows.