The Utrecht experience - natural mystic
Published by 
Diogo Pombo
— 14 years ago
11 3
Tags: Erasmus experiences Utrecht,
Utrecht,
Netherlands
This was my last afternoon, the shocking feeling of being in my last day in Utrecht was finally taking over me. All the moments and feelings were suddenly coming back to me as I sent some messages to my Erasmus friends for some last beers at the Maria bar before I took off late in the evening to Amesterdam to catch that damn plane that, unfortunately would take back to Lisboa for the last time departing from Utrecht.
I could give you an interesting cultural and historical background of this city, but in my regard that\'s not the point to this, as well as in all the other Erasmus experiences lived elsewhere throughout Europe. That\'s not the point. Neither is it entirely possible to try to explain in words what the experience felt and still feels like inside me, but, as we all know, words are the best possible way of sharing the sum of all the moments and experiences that my Erasmus in Utrecht gave me.
So, that night I was together with all my Erasmus friends one last time at Maria bar, the place where we frequently went before every party night out. On its wall, a large list of beers counting more than 100, where some tried to drink them all before leaving, I just stick to the option of drinking them randomly. We could have gone to Tivoli - the disco, just a few meters down the main cannal, where we only paid 4€ to enter because we were Eramus, or we could just carry out the party in one of the surrounding students\' buidings - Cambridgelaan, IBB or Baden Powell. The parties, dinners and chilling moves happened in all of these places along the six months we spent there together, but this final bash had to happen in Maria, where it would be easier for me to walk home from there later in the evening.
Walk home?Yes, it was not and still isn\'t common in Utrecht. Everyone rides a bike everywhere, so you will always have a reliable means of transportation wherever you want to go. And being a flatland city, the difficulty will only increase depending on the amount of alcohol or weed you consume (it\'s better to refer it rather than not talking about, as it will be, whether you like it or not, present in you daily conversations, or, if choose so, in your to do list).
The parties in the students\' buildings happened every week, sometimes more than once, so the amount of fun, people knowing and partying will be intense if you want to. The city centre is perfect due to being small: everything nearby and very close to one and other. The way the traditional buildings combine with the main cannal in Oudergracht is just priceless, and you will find yourself wanting to walk around in the sunny days just to admire the simplicity and beauty of the city, which you can broadly admire if you have the strength to climb all the steps up to the top of the Dom tower, next to the VIII century protestant church.
Enough description.
The moment had come. I left the bar, ran to my bike and unlocked it with the help of my drunk Finnish friend. I didn\'t ride it this time. I picked it up, walked to the bridge over the cannal, gave a brief look at all my friends that were there with me, and threw the bike into the bottom of the cannal. Yes, kind of stupid. But the point was, and you will understand when you do Erasmus, I wanted to give one last memory not only to me, but to all of my friends, of one last good moment we had spent together (and I had been thinking of doing it for some weeks). Well, it worked out for me, still today I remember this moment with joy and \"saudade\" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade), and, after saying the final and long farewell to all of my friends, I started walking home, and, for the first time in my life, it felt damn nice to be walking home, with my head still travelling around all the memories and feelings I was carrying with me.
http://www.utrechtyourway.nl/utrecht/en/SearchResults2.aspx?c=1
I could give you an interesting cultural and historical background of this city, but in my regard that\'s not the point to this, as well as in all the other Erasmus experiences lived elsewhere throughout Europe. That\'s not the point. Neither is it entirely possible to try to explain in words what the experience felt and still feels like inside me, but, as we all know, words are the best possible way of sharing the sum of all the moments and experiences that my Erasmus in Utrecht gave me.
So, that night I was together with all my Erasmus friends one last time at Maria bar, the place where we frequently went before every party night out. On its wall, a large list of beers counting more than 100, where some tried to drink them all before leaving, I just stick to the option of drinking them randomly. We could have gone to Tivoli - the disco, just a few meters down the main cannal, where we only paid 4€ to enter because we were Eramus, or we could just carry out the party in one of the surrounding students\' buidings - Cambridgelaan, IBB or Baden Powell. The parties, dinners and chilling moves happened in all of these places along the six months we spent there together, but this final bash had to happen in Maria, where it would be easier for me to walk home from there later in the evening.
Walk home?Yes, it was not and still isn\'t common in Utrecht. Everyone rides a bike everywhere, so you will always have a reliable means of transportation wherever you want to go. And being a flatland city, the difficulty will only increase depending on the amount of alcohol or weed you consume (it\'s better to refer it rather than not talking about, as it will be, whether you like it or not, present in you daily conversations, or, if choose so, in your to do list).
The parties in the students\' buildings happened every week, sometimes more than once, so the amount of fun, people knowing and partying will be intense if you want to. The city centre is perfect due to being small: everything nearby and very close to one and other. The way the traditional buildings combine with the main cannal in Oudergracht is just priceless, and you will find yourself wanting to walk around in the sunny days just to admire the simplicity and beauty of the city, which you can broadly admire if you have the strength to climb all the steps up to the top of the Dom tower, next to the VIII century protestant church.
Enough description.
The moment had come. I left the bar, ran to my bike and unlocked it with the help of my drunk Finnish friend. I didn\'t ride it this time. I picked it up, walked to the bridge over the cannal, gave a brief look at all my friends that were there with me, and threw the bike into the bottom of the cannal. Yes, kind of stupid. But the point was, and you will understand when you do Erasmus, I wanted to give one last memory not only to me, but to all of my friends, of one last good moment we had spent together (and I had been thinking of doing it for some weeks). Well, it worked out for me, still today I remember this moment with joy and \"saudade\" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade), and, after saying the final and long farewell to all of my friends, I started walking home, and, for the first time in my life, it felt damn nice to be walking home, with my head still travelling around all the memories and feelings I was carrying with me.
http://www.utrechtyourway.nl/utrecht/en/SearchResults2.aspx?c=1
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Comments (3 comments)
Great experience!
I really liked this city: http://www.erasmusu.com/es/photo/341?city=6589&cat=city&orderby=datedesc