Breda/Utrecht

Saturday, about 50 international students went to the Dutch celebration of Carnival in Breda. From what I gathered, Carnival is what the rest of the world calls Mardi Gras, and the Dutch do it big. The streets in the center of town were closed and a costume was required to gain entrance to any of the restaurants or bars. Wanting to spread good will, I went as Uncle Sam. Personally, I'm going to say mission accomplished. It was a great time with bands playing, giant floats and general all-around merriment. The strangest part of Carnival to me was the extreme age range of the participants. To be more specific, there were toddlers at the bars. For example, in one place, packed wall to wall with people going nuts, there was a stage with people dancing. Right there with them was a little girl, probably two years old, waving pom poms, having a great time. I asked a Dutch person if that seemed odd to them. He responded, "This isn't America." Fair enough.

Sunday, I went to Utrecht, a big city with a small town feel (I read that somewhere). It was a really cool city and I would recommend it to anyone who visits the Netherlands. A highlight of the trip was the visit to the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the country. It was built between 1321 and 1382 (wikipedia) and for some reason, I thought I could climb to the top without issue. 465 steps later, I was thinking at least I'll go out with the Gators and Steelers on top. It was a great view though and I managed to get some pictures by blindly extending my arm out over the edge.


Ready to Carnival it up


Pre-Lent party time


Utrecht from the tower