Date : 29/03/2015 Country : UNITED STATES Page(s) : 4 Circulation : () Frequency : Surface : 227%
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Netherlands
Utrecht steps into the limelight First, there's the aforementioned bunny. The mall presents your earliest opportunity to meet Miffy — in this incarnation a 6-foot-tall plastic statue, which kids (and some adults) hug, kiss and climb over — but it will not be the last: If you don't already know Miffy, you will by the time you leave Utrecht. The beloved bunny — By DIANE DANIEL • Washington Post star of children's books that have sold more than 85 million copies in dozThanks to some bikes and a bunny, ens of languages, plus two television this summer an international audi- series and a movie — was created by ence will discover what the locals native son Dick Bruna. Although you already know: Utrecht is a vibrant, wouldn't know it by her baby-smooth architecturally distinctive and hap- skin, Miffy (who goes by Nijntje in pening place hidden in the shadow Dutch) just turned 60. To celebrate, of Amsterdam, its famous neighbor she gets two new museum exhibits to the north. and a turn as the Tour de France's My most recent visit to the Dutch mascot, with her likeness topping city of 330,000 was in early Febru- the race's pace cars. ary, when one of the few signs of One worthwhile stop before fleeits anointment as the host of the ing the mall is a little-known overlook "Grand Depart" for this year's Tour from the top floor of the V&D departde France was a minimalist statue of ment store. Take four escalators up to a red bicycle in the town center. In reach its restaurant and patio, from July, the world-famous bike race will which the eastern expanse of the city stage its start here before moving on unfolds, including the 368-foot Dom to France, a two-day event expected Tower, an Utrecht landmark. Later, to draw a couple of hundred bike rac- if you're able, you should climb the ers and upward of 750,000 spectators. Dom's 465 steps to the top for a stelA 100-day countdown of celebratory lar view of the region — all the way activities began on Thursday. to Amsterdam, 25 miles away, on a Even without such fanfare, clear day. Utrecht, in the Netherlands, is lively. Although Utrecht is walkable, from With more than 70,000 students at here you might want to rent a bike and the city's two universities, there's join the multitude of two-wheelers. I always something going on — and a cycled toward the Centraal Museum lot of people going out. I live an hour via the still-sleepy Oudegracht ("Old away, in the opposite direction from Canal"), a curving brick-lined street Amsterdam, so I drove inandbrought that by the afternoon would become my bike. Because many tourists arrive clogged with pedestrians. The Oudeby train from Amsterdam, a 30-min- gracht, Utrecht's version of a promute trip, I started my tour at the sta- enade, follows the city's main watertion — which means at the mall. Yep, way and is lined with shops and busthe only route from the central station tling cafes. into a medieval town full of character Below street level, along the 11this through a modern shopping center devoid of it, a sad fact that will hap- century canals, lies the city's most pily change with a planned, yearslong distinctive architectural feature: its station overhaul. Many locals pride system of brick wharves and cellars. themselves in hating the Hoog Cath- The wharves started as docking areas arijne mall, but there are a couple of for delivery boats, while the cellars things worth checking out before you were used for storage. These days, many of the narrow, deep cellars head into town.
This year's Tour de France starting point, the Dutch university town is no longer overshadowed by nearby Amsterdam.
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serve as apartments and businesses. Stairways allow you to climb from canal level to street level, and many restaurants have water-facing patios both up- and downstairs. From spring through fall, a parade of tour boats, private motorboats, paddle boats and kayaks traverse the waterways, turning Oudegracht into an even merrier destination. Museum hopping My visit to the Centraal Museum was quick, because most wings were closed for a renovation (now complete) adding exhibit space and an airier design. The permanent collection here contains both historical and contemporary works and includes a fantastic assortment of furniture by Dutch architects and designers Piet Klaarhamer and his famed student, Gerrit Rietveld, who created the iconic "Red and Blue Chair," the furniture version of a Piet Mondrian painting. The museum also oversees the Rietveld Schroder House, 10 minutes away by bicycle (and if you're still on foot, you can borrow a bike from the museum). The house, reflecting the early 20th-century De Stijl movement, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the bunny department, the exhibit "Miffy, From 1955 to Today," runs from summer to early fall and has areas for adults and children. On Sept. 5, the museum will inaugurate a permanent re-creation of Bruna's studio, using furnishings and materials donatedby the 87-year-old illustrator and writer. A short hop across the street and also part of the museum is the Dick Bruna House, a paean to all things Nijntje (and her creator) and soon to be renamed the Miffy Museum. The building closes July 6 for a complete refurbishment, with an expected reopening in December. I hope they keep my favorite part — a small room whose walls are plastered with Miffy books in dozens of languages.
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