Arrival 18:35 in Utrecht Centraal, very many people at the station itself and also on the station square
Check in bunk hotel (architecturally very crazy, used to be a church, is now a bar, hostel, restaurant mix)
Sleeping in a bunk (a small wooden box, not much space but still charming)
Short walk around town (very many bikes everywhere, you do have to be careful when crossing the street, especially on the main road, and bikes are parked and parked everywhere).
Burger eating outside in front of the mall by the canal, many young people sitting by the canal and are chatting, drinking, etc., typical Saturday night in a city
Drink at the hostel on the terrace upstairs, go through plan for the next days. First impressions Utrecht: sunny, full of people (also many young people), a lot of green, super many bikes on the streets where they have a lot of space, a lot of canals
Sunday
9:30 get up, shared bathroom sometimes means waiting to shower, but all clean
Coffee at the hostel, locking away valuable items in the lockers (5€/24h).
Walking around the city center, super many people, flowers everywhere (it’s mother’s day), streets are full of pedestrians and bicyclists, it’s very sunny, many street musicians
Small stalls everywhere, like a very loosely spread flea market
First round of survey: Stationsplein, however not many respond
Location analysis: photos and videos from outside, then inside the garage itself (walk through from front to back, also down to the bike rental, a very stressed man, I’ll come back tomorrow), the bike rental and repair shop in the middle are closed. Many people ride and walk through, a few have problems at first to get their bikes up into the bike racks that are upstairs
Lunch near the Dome
Second round of survey: park behind Utrecht-Centraal along the canal: more people respond
Search for bike signs and bike parking throughout the city
Drawing of different bicycle situations
Second-hand bookshop found with 3 books about Utrecht city planning and bicycle routes
Dinner by the canal (Taiwanese, right down the canal), meet Erasmus students from England who tell me they started biking when they came to Utrecht (almost never biked before, now daily)
Meet family from near Utrecht, who tell me that tourism has grown exponentially in the last 20 years
Nightcap in the hostel, conversation with bartender (Matias), who gives my survey to all kitchen staff, and tells me about the housing problem in the Netherlands, which is why many Dutch people stay in the hostel as well.
Bike entrance to the bike garageInside of the bike garage
Monday
8:00 Breakfast at the hostel
9:00 Online meeting Prof. De Rudder
10:30-12:30 Bike tour through Utrecht, including the first bike lane in the Netherlands, the bike garage, several bike bridges and the canals
Coffee with tour guide, talk about bike infrastructure and situation before the construction of bike garage and situation now
Tourist info at Cathedral Square, look for maps and books, more resources
16:30 lunch at Lebowski’s
Try to get information on the bike garage at the info desk of the municipality of Utrecht, got a number to call next week
Walk through station to the bike garage, walk through the mall
Dinner on the side of the canal
Tuesday
9:00 breakfast in the mall
Renting a bike in Stationsplein, go through the bike lodge and protocol it, use the bike rack in the garage
talking a long walk through the city
get ice cream and go to second hand bookshop, get maps and books about Utrecht, give survey to bookshop keeper
relax in a Café, write down surveys and work for thesis
