Travelogue - Groningen (5th Sept 2009)

On the same day that I arrived in Holland, after settling in and unpacking and having a hot home-made breakfast, we made our way to Groningen for some sight-seeing. Anyways, Groningen is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands and is mainly populated by students, so there are more foreigners there. It's about a 45minute drive from Leeuwarden and Chin Aun thought that we could just drop by for a look-see to kickstart the Europe trip.

Upon arrival in Groningen, it was close to noon and we parked in the carpark of Ikea and proceeded to see the city on foot. I wore flip-flops cos I was too lazy to wear my covered shoe and boy, I nearly froze my toes off!

The St. Jozef Cathedral of Groningen

Walking The Shopping Street of Groningen

There's this tower called Martinitoren (Martini Tower) in the main square of the city of Groningen that provides a great view of the square and the surrounding area. Being the tourists that we are, we paid the entrance fee of 3euros per person and took the challenge to climb up the tower to experience the view.

The Martini Tower

1. Standing at the entrance for the climb up
2. Taking a deep breath and climbing up!
3. A loooong and painful way down if I fall!

Stopping halfway at the chamber to ring the bell of the tower(which I failed because it was too damn heavy. Chin Aun managed to do it though, after a few tries and rope-burnt palms)

Trying to pry a trap door open

The view from the tower halfway up!

In short, it was a LONG, PAINFUL and SCARY climb. he descent from the tower was even worse! The steps were steep and small and there were no support other than a thick rope hanging from the top. My feet hurt, my heart was beating too fast from the breathlessness of the climb and the fear from falling down. I suffered a severe cramp in the middle of the night as a result of climbing the tower in flip-flops! But it was worth it :)