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UTRECHT 2026-06-16

Dutch travelog, part 7. Read part 6 here.

We decided leave the apartment together with Mozzarella. Thus, he made us a light and delicious veggie omelette for lunch. (I just had a banana for breakfast).

He gave us some tips on how we could spend our day, so we decided to take his advice and do a loop along the canal that encircles the city center of Utrecht.

STOPS:

THE RAILWAY MUSEUM

We didn't plan on visiting any museums while in Utrecht. However, I wasn't opposed to checking them out for the future. The Railway Museum, according to its website, is "the most exciting train station in the Netherlands."

This old station is no longer in use and now displays "a selection of locomotives, coaches, and train cars." (Source)

Lucerne has a pretty great transportation museum as well, but what's cool about this one is that the entrance is the station. I had a quick look inside and it does look pretty interesting. Maybe it'll make it onto our museum list someday, but probably not for a while.


CENTRAAL MUSEUM

Across the Centraal Museum is the Nijntje Museum, which is what Miffy is called in her original language. However, the Miffy Museum is really a play area for children. I double-checked online, and I would probably feel out of place if I were to visit. Instead, it is recommended to check out the Centraal Museum, which showcases Dick Bruna's studio.

The Miffy gift shop is located inside the Centraal Museum. I've still yet to visit the museum properly, but this is my second time at the gift shop. I bought a furry Miffy keychain and a crocheted outfit for my Miffy plushie. Turns out, it was much too small, as it's made for the crocheted Miffy doll. So now I need to buy the doll, OR I can crochet the doll myself, which would probably be more fun. (I would just need the precise measurements though. And learn how to crochet.)

The tiny overalls look like they'd fit, but it does not. Daniel couldn't stop laughing when I managed to barely squeeze Miffy into it. Her badonkadonk was simply too huge, and now the outfit is a little stretched out.


DE KEUKEN VAN KEEK

After my Miffy excursion, we walked 5 minutes up the road to a bakery café I had bookmarked. De Keuken van Keek is a tiny little café that only had four tiny tables inside. I was sweating from the walk and also feeling sleepy, so I ordered an iced Americano and a scone with cream and jam for a sugar rush.

We stayed there for maybe 30 minutes. I went to use the bathroom before we left. This is like, the third time I've used a bathroom at an establishment and noticed that there are no paper towels to wipe your hands with. Is this a Dutch thing? I also noticed a scarcity of napkins.


DOM TOWER

We continued walking alongside the canal up Oudegracht. Mozzarella said that the Dom Tower was finally open to the public and we should check out the area. We walked into a giant square that felt like it was part of a college campus. I immediately made a beeline for some round sculptural "benches" and plopped down. I was so tired, I felt like I could've fallen asleep.

I think we sat there for 20 minutes doing nothing. I had no energy to find out what Dom Tower was all about. We did spot an orange cat though. That motivated us to get up and try to pet it, but it walked away into a garden and I didn't feel like following it. Since we were up, we walked beneath the giant archway of the Dom Tower (I think), and continued into the city.


THE MATCHA SOCIETY

I had promised Daniel we would visit to "traditional" matcha tea shops that we'd seen on Instagram. One was in Amsterdam and we didn't make it. The other one, ŌSUKE, was in Utrecht, a bit further up Oudegracht. I mapped our directions there and found out it was closed! With a heavy heart, I broke the news to Daniel. He was very sad, so I began searching up other matcha places. We found The Matcha Society, located in a shopping area.

The store has what's best described as the clean girl aesthetic: minimal, white, with pale pink and gold accents. We got in line and I noticed that there was only one menu, a screen, by the register. There's also a glass display showcasing a few matcha desserts.

When it was my turn at the register, I was told to "take my time," and to ring the bell when I'm ready. I feel like they were trying to create this zen-like experience. They even mentioned that the matcha will take time to make. There was one person responsible for tending to all the drink orders.

I ordered a matcha latte and a matcha crème brûlée. Daniel ordered a hojicha latte and a slice of matcha basque cheesecake (this was like the fourth shop we've seen sell this cake; it's not popular in Switzerland).

My dessert took a bit longer to arrive. The cashier brought it out and mentioned that the crème brûlée still needed to cool down before eating.

I took a sip of my matcha latte, which tasted mostly of milk. Then I cracked my dessert, only to realize that it was poorly torched:

Daniel's basque cheesecake was sliced like a muffin and tasted a bit obscure. The texture didn't feel right; it was too thick. His hojicha latte was surprisingly good, though.

Next time, I'll make sure we're in Utrecht when ŌSUKE is open.


PEDICURE

I decided to get a pedicure because it's so much cheaper here than in Switzerland. I found a place really close to the Matcha Society. It had pretty great reviews. The sign outside clearly said, "pedicure €41." When I went in, the owner told me it was €52 and she'd give me the "deluxe pedicure." I said I just wanted the regular pedicure and she said it wasn't possible. When I tried to leave, she said she'll do it for €41 since it was my first time.

She said they were cash only and there was an ATM across at the Spar. She watched me as I walked over. I got €50 and decided to break it. I asked the cashier and he said they couldn't do that. So we bought a small sandwich. He gave me €48 all in €2 COINS. I felt so embarrassed, and tried not to think about all the people in line judging me as I counted my coins by the door.

The deluxe pedicure itself was totally fine. The owner offered me some tea, which I immediately said no to because I was afraid there was some hidden cost. Daniel was waiting on the couch for me and gladly accepted the tea. I was seated in a massage chair, so that was cool.

There was another woman who got a deluxe pedicure. When she went to pay, they said it was €41. I also heard another customer saying they didn't have cash, so a bank transfer was allowed.

The owner went into the office and never came out again. My nail tech rung me up. "€41.50," he said. I gave him €42, all in coins, and got the hell out of there.

I don't like places that get confrontational and make me feel uncomfortable. I hate bargaining, but I also felt like I was being lied to since I was a tourist. I wondered if I had missed something since I was a walk-in, but it clearly said "pedicure €41" on the sign! Why did I get charged the extra €.50? Next time, I'll book in advance, I guess. (Somewhere else, of course.)


SPONTANEOUS MIFFY

I was feeling pretty bummed after that experience, until we rounded the corner and saw this:

This one is the Dick Bruna x Miffy statue, as Dick Bruna is painted on the other side. I forgot to take a picture of it because I filmed a bit.

From there, my mood instantly perked up. We slowly made our way to the station (en route a shopping mall, in which we spent like 30 minutes trying and failing to find a tea shop), to meet Mozzarella in the same spot as yesterday.


The best pizza I've ever had

"It's a chain, but trust me, it's good," said Mozzarella, as we walked underneath an overpass.

O'Panuozzo Napoli is a franchise with three locations, all in Utrecht. It seems to be Italian run, as most of the waiters spoke Italian. The Italian manager*, greeted us with a nod wearing yellow-tinted aviator glasses and a beige merino wool v-neck sweater.

* M said he knew him and confirmed his nationality.

Mozzarella ordered the classic margherita. I got al tartufo and Daniel ai formaggi. We tried a slice of everyone's pizza. HOLY HELL WAS IT DELICIOUS. The crust was perfectly soft and even (not like our local favorite where the Napoli style pretty much falls apart in the middle). Maybe it was the hunger or the previous sadness, but the pizza here was so good. Pizza isn't even on my top 10 list of favorite foods but I would visit here regularly if I could.

However, the service was pretty slow. Maybe it's an Italian thing, I don't know, but the staff took their time but also they were like, arguing with each other in the back, but not in an angry way? It gave off family vibes, like they were all siblings or something, even though they probably aren't since this is a chain.

We ordered tiramisu to share. M and I also went for a their homemade grappa, thinking it would aid with our digestion.

Later in the evening, Daniel and M played games while I ended up lying in bed because the pizza was NOT going down well. Before bed, M also mentioned that he also had a stomachache.

"It was definitely the alcohol," said Daniel, since he didn't drink. But I'm pretty sure it was a combination of everything. M had mentioned earlier that he has more digestion problems now that he was older.

I went to bed hoping that I wouldn't wake up with a headache or indigestion, because tomorrow, we ride for Den Haag!

Read all NL posts here.

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