Zwolle is a wonderful little city in the central area of the Netherlands, to the east of Amsterdam. Its really quite small and doesn't have a lot of the big attractions that draw in tourists such as big museums or exciting cultural events. However, the city itself is really beautiful! It has a lot of beautiful 17th and 18th century architecture, as well as a smattering of 19th and early 20th century stuff too, especially in the area around the city center. As an admitted architecture junkie, this was a really fun place to look around. The central area of the city, and the oldest part, has some amazing remnants of the medieval city. The shape, visible from overhead (or google maps) is an odd sort of star surrounded by a canal.
During the middle ages and renaissance this layout would have allowed the city to have been easily defended from invasion or attack. A few sections of the old wall have survived as well as medieval towers. Had the city come under attack, the walls, towers, and jagged shoreline would have forced attackers of the city to do so while being constantly exposed to the fire of those defending the city. The city itself dates back to the 9th century, but became an actual city in the 13th century and the two churches in the city center have histories dating back to around a century or two after that.

The protestant church on the square dates back to 1406 and is named St. Michaëlskerk. It was closed while I was there, but I could see that a majority of the facade is not from that early period. The front now has a line of text over the entrance which reads To Watch and Pray, in the year 1614. At the top of the tower is a statue of Saint Michael which looks over the open area out in front of the church. Late gothic stonework window frames have survived in the nave of the church, but the windows themselves have been replaced with clear glass, though they likely would have been stained glass at one point. I was able to find a photo from inside and really wish that it had been open! It looks amazing!

The old catholic church, or Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopneming, was thankfully open! Set back a little off the square, it has a tall bell tower and is nicknamed the 'Pepperbox' for its resemblance to a pepper mill. The nave of the church is beautiful and has amazing decorations throughout. Over the transept and apse are painted some beautiful seraphim holding relics of the passion (I believe). The ciborium over the alter is colorful and at least done in the gothic style, if it doesn't date from that period. The windows in the nave are clear, but the windows behind the altar and in the transepts are stained glass. The decorations in the apse are bright and colorful but have a harmony with the windows and give the space a sort of joy and glow. Visiting the church is free, but it cost a couple of euros to climb up the bell tower. It is really worth the minimal cost and the cardio exercise to climb up the stairs to the top. The view is amazing! I think it is about 15 stories tall and seems like it will never end as you climb up the narrow winding stairs, but it is, thankfully, well lit and doesn't feel claustrophobic. There are lots of other wonderful buildings and low key places to hang out there, but if you only have a day, these are the things that I would suggest trying to hit, and thankfully, they are all very close to each other and hard to miss. I know this places isn't really on the tourist radar, but maybe it should be. It's a wonderful place, peaceful and idyllic, and has some pretty architecture that is worth taking a look at.

Just in case you ever wondered wether the Netherlands was flat or not... ^_^

Rotterdam and the Zoo... awesomely named Blijdorp!

Of all the cities that I have seen so far in the Netherlands, this one most reminds me of Manhattan. It is diverse, fast and young. The city of course has a long history, but thanks bombing in WWII, unlike most everywhere else in the country, where the 17th century buildings and medieval history reflect back from every corner. The city sky line is like a shorter version of New York too, with gorgeous points of glass, metal and fluidly modern lines.
Like any self-respecting large city, it has a great website to help tourists figure out what they want to see from the myriad of things the city can offer. The site Rotterdam Info is pretty helpfully designed and breaks things down by interest for you so you don't have to slog through a list of fifty things just to pick out the five museums you choose to visit. They also have a free app that DOESN'T REQUIRE INTERNET ACCESS TO USE! What a great thing! Yes, you do have to have internet to get the app, but once you have it, you don't have to have it to find what you are looking to do. It includes a map, and a lot of great general info about sculptures, buildings and sites in the city.

The city was far too big to see everything while I was there but I did get a good view of a few great sites. Since the city was seriously damaged during WWII, the city has a lot of great modern architecture and it looks like they really took that opportunity to make its city beautiful and remarkable. The cube houses are one of the really interesting bits of modern architecture which are in the city. They look a bit like dice, mid-tumble, and are actually quite large! Though I didn't go in, one Cube is a museum and can be toured for a fee. The buildings are fantastic and look really fun to stay in (which you can since they are now a hotel/hostel) though I am sure that I would get a little vertigo as heights and I don't get along very well.

The city is wonderfully diverse and has a big international community that lives there. One of my favorite buildings that I saw ever time I crossed the bridge toward the city center was this beautiful copper topped mosque. The Melvana Mosque in really beautiful and looks lovely in the middle of the open grass grounds. The inside is amazing and has beautiful decoration on the interior including a beautifully tiled mihrab, amazing gold and black calligraphy and a really impressive chandelier on the ceiling.

I spent a day at the Rotterdam Zoo or Blijdorp which is a big zoo and aquarium. By far the most fun creature there was the baby polar bear who had immense amounts of fun playing with the visiting children through the window in his pool. The only issue that I ran into with the zoo is that the signs are only in Dutch. Though this is understandable, it was a little bit of a detraction not being able to read the descriptions and explanations for the exhibits. The zoo is huge and has a ton of animals from all over the world that are really fun to see. Its definitely worth the trip!