damian1

A few weeks ago I decided to visit my cousin in Groningen, The Netherlands. He recently bought a house there, and I thought it would be a good idea to visit him. From the east of the Netherlands, where I live, it's about an 1.5 hour drive to Groningen, a city located in the north of the Netherlands.

Groningen is a very well-known city among students in the Netherlands. For many young people Groningen is the designated city to study at the university. More than 15 percent of the inhabitants of the city of Groningen are students. So I've heard enough great stories about this city, but I had never had the chance to explore the city myself.

Arriving in Groningen

It was not the first time I visited my cousin Eloy's house. The first time was about four months ago when he had just bought the house, and a lot still had to be done. Now, during my second visit to his house, everything was finished and he had the furniture inside. It's an older house, and because of that it has a lot of character. The house already existed during the second world war (1945).

After Eloy gave me a tour of his house, we decided to explore the city.

Exploring the city of Groningen

I had little knowledge about the city of Groningen. I had never actually researched the city, so it was a complete surprise what awaited me. And I can already tell you one thing, the city surprised me in a positive way.

From my cousin's house we could walk towards the city center. This was the first thing that surprised me, I had never known that my cousin lived so close to the city center. I was also surprised that we could walk, and didn't need a bike to move around the city. The first thing we came across was this row of beautiful houses, situated at the canals.

University of Groningen

We continued our tour through the city, fortunately my cousin knows all the beautiful places to find in the city. The next stop was at the State University of Groningen. The university was founded in 1614, making it the oldest existing university in the Netherlands after Leiden University. Never have I known that the building of this university is so beautiful.

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

The University was located on a beautiful square with authentic buildings and nice terraces. The city has a very nice and especially its own character. Because of this character, the city actually just feels like a village.

Prinsentuin

The next destination was the Prinsentuin. A beautiful location in the middle of the city behind a high wall. To get here we walked along beautiful canals where we came across this boat. Me and my cousin haven't exactly figured out the function of this boat yet, but as you can see it seems to be owned by an artist. Just pretend that the color of the water is not green.
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The princely garden is perhaps the quietest place in the city centre of Groningen. It's a courtyard with green and colorful flower garden, where it looks like you're not in a city. It is very peaceful and it all looks very well maintained.

Martinitoren

The next destination led us past Groningen's most famous building, the Martinitoren. The Martinitoren, standing on the Grote Markt, with its 97 meters the tallest tower in the city of Groningen. The tower belongs to the Martinikerk (church). In the past 500 years the Martintoren burned down, struck lightning and almost collapsed. Wars were won and lost on the sidewalk of this tower. An impressive building that towers above all other buildings in the city.

Martinitoren, Groningen

Forum Groningen

The next place was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. The building called the Forum Groningen is located in the heart of the inner city of Groningen. The building is quite new and has 5 movie theaters, a Smartlab, restaurants, the city library and the highest roof terrace in Groningen. Here I took the following picture which shows the contrast between old and new buildings in the city.

The view from the roof is really great. You can see the whole city from the roof. You immediately see that the area around the city is very green.

Beer and dutch snack

In the evening me and my cousin went to a local beer brewery which is well known in Groningen. We drank a few beers and had nice conversations about all kinds of things. The beer tasted good and the location looked nice.

After a few beers my cousin told me about the Groningse Eierbal (egg ball). At first I didn't believe my cousin, it sounded like a joke. Who throws an egg in the fryer? The Egg Ball turns out to be a traditional snack that almost only occurs in the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands. With great desire, and little reluctance, we went out to score this snack.
I couldn't pass up the chance to try this snack. I present to you: The Eierbal!

I can imagine you saying; why do you eat this? But I have to tell you, this snack didn't disappoint me at all. The texture and taste of this egg ball was very tasty. It's very crispy on the outside, and this combined with the texture of the egg on the inside makes it a complete taste experience. So if you are in the Netherlands, you should definitely try to score this snack!

I hope that with this blog I was able to show you that the Netherlands is not just Amsterdam. Cities and places far outside the city of Amsterdam are also worth visiting. As CNN says: “Groningen is a winning alternative to Amsterdam”.

And finally I want to end with a message to my cousin! Thanks for the nice day, the hospitality and the beautiful tour through Groningen. Let's meet again soon! ✌

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