Amersfoort: Honestly, It's Fine (A Rambling Report)
okay, so i just got back from amersfoort. it's… a place. look, i’m tired, okay? travel is exhausting. i spent way too long trying to decipher a bunch of random numbers and a uuid at the top of the document i was given (5a66bcfc-38a1-425b-84f4-826012ffc996, in case you’re wondering, and 2759821, and 1528000334… seriously, what is that?). anyway, amersfoort. it’s in the netherlands, which is good. central netherlands, specifically, in the province of utrecht. i just checked and it's 5.03 degrees celsius, feels like 1.59, with a high of 5.59. hope you like that kind of thing. it’s… damp.
it’s built around this river, the Eem, which apparently used to be called the Amer. clever. it’s a ford on the Amer, get it? i guess? they’ve been here a while, since the 12th century at least, building walls and stuff. there’s a tower, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren, which is apparently super important because it’s the origin point for some dutch coordinate system. i don’t even want to think about that. the church next to it blew up in 1787, but the tower’s still standing, which feels… symbolic, somehow.
apparently, it hosted some modern pentathlon events in 1928. who knew? the city itself has a population of 160,902, making it the second-largest in utrecht. it’s growing, but they’re trying to keep the old part looking medieval, which is… a vibe, i guess. someone told me the medieval center is really photogenic, all narrow streets and canals and houses built on old wall foundations. i didn’t spend enough time wandering, honestly. i was too cold.
there’s this thing called the Koppelpoort, which is a land-and-water gate. sounds impressive. and there are nature reserves all around - Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Veluwe, and Eempolder. apparently, it’s the only dutch city bordering three of them. that’s… a selling point, i suppose. if you like nature. i’m more of a “find a cozy cafe” kind of traveler.
getting around is easy enough. they have a lot of trains - Amersfoort Centraal, Schothorst, Vathorst. and highways, A1 and A28. if you get bored, utrecht is nearby, and vianen too. it’s all pretty connected. someone else mentioned that it’s super bike-friendly, which is good, because everyone in the netherlands bikes. i almost got run over by a cyclist approximately 17 times.
food-wise… nothing really stood out. no famous local dishes, apparently. which is a shame. i was hoping for some amazing stroopwafels or something. and no famous people either, which feels a little sad. it’s just… a city. a perfectly functional, historically significant, slightly damp city.
be aware that the streets are narrow, so driving can be a pain. and it’s flat, so flooding is a thing, i guess. and the traffic is probably awful, like everywhere else. overall? it’s fine. it’s a perfectly acceptable place to spend a few days. i wouldn’t go out of my way to go back, but i wouldn’t actively avoid it either. it’s just… there.
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