Utrecht and St. Jans

Yesterday. It already seems like weeks ago. But -Ii haven't forgotten!
We went to the city of Utrecht. Which has the most BEAUTIFUL church in Holland. It's considered the hidden treasure of Utrecht. St. Willibrord is the name of the church, neo-gothic is the style of it. It was built between 1875-1879. At the time, Holland was a Protestant nation, and so the Catholics were not allowed to build their churches the way they wanted. They were however allowed to build them however they wanted on the inside, it was just the outside that couldn't be showy. So, they built this church almost completely hidden in the way it's built. The surrounding buildings give it good cover from the street view, but from the air, it's beautiful!
We also spent time looking in the shops (of course), and learning even more about this amazing country! To finish off the evening, we decided to cook them a true Canadian dish - Poutine!!! With the help of Olivier (the youngest), we attempted to make it! And succeeded. After dinner we played music, talked, and even got a movie in there (: After the boys went to sleep, the rest of us stayed up and laughed, and talked till way too late in the morning! Wonderful way to end the day (:
Today - it's raining. The true Dutch experience. But lovely nonetheless! Lianne's Aunt and cousin picked us up this morning (after a breakfast of American pancakes. Olivier's favourite!), and brought us back to Den Bosche. We did a quick walk through of the open marked in the centre of the city, and carried on to try the famous Bossche Bol! Which is pretty much a giant cream puff. So good. The cafe we went to, De Groot, is the original creator, so we had the best! After that we went back to St. Jan Cathedral, and were yet again amazed by the beauty. When it was restored on the outside a few years ago, an architect made 25 angels to sit on the peaks. The last angel is wearing jeans, and holds a cell phone with a direct call button to "God"! A phone number is on there that you can call to talk to the angel! That's been within the last 20 years, but the Cathedral was built in 1366, and wasn't finished until 1559! It's massive.
Tonight we're in for a chill evening with no plans! So we'll probably have a nerf war with the boys, and eat more great food!
Bless you all!

                            This sign is talking about the angel that you can call - but it's not free!

       The angel is right in the centre of the picture. He's crossing his arms cause he's on the phone.