Groningen

My dear cousin Zara is currently living in a Dutch city called Groningen, which is about as far away from Amsterdam as is possible while still being in the Netherlands. The city is nice, but there is clear evidence that it is a college town, with a plethora of bars, coffee shops and coffee bars (the kind you smoke at).

In this picture you can see the famous Martini Toren, which has been standing longer than the US has been a country. The Dutch pride themselves on building towers which can stand up even when they lean over at an angle steeper than that of the tower in Pisa. This tower isn't so bad, but it does have a noticeable tilt.

This shot is what I will think about when I remember our time in the Netherlands: thousands of bicycles parked in front of old buildings. I think this is part of one of the universities in Groningen.
The canals are always lined with boats. This is a nice view we encountered right after accidentally wandering through the red light district.
Here is a close up of the tower right before we payed our 3 euro for the opportunity to hike up its hundreds of steps.
Up, up, up! The tower was filled with bells!
At the top we were able to look out the clock face onto the town below!

Well, it's been fun in the Netherlands, but we're off to Belgium tomorrow! We have one last farm (and a bunch of breweries) to visit before we head home. I'm really excited!