Groningen 1

 Martini Tower (version 3) Why, I hear you ask? Well, the original tower, built in the 13C was destroyed by lightning. In the 15C a second tower was built but it collapsed during a storm. The current tower was built between 1469 and 1482, but celebratory fires lit in 1577partially destroyed the tower again!  In the 17C, the tower was repaired to it's current 97 metres.
We climbed the tight spiral stairway to the top (370 steps), passing the carillon of 52 bells - quite noisy when they start up when we were standing next to them!
Atop the weather vane in a life-sized horse, and a sundial dated from 1748 sits on the southern side.  Being a sundial and being on a tower, it is only operational until 4:30pm!

 This glorious sundial sits in Prince's Garden, featuring rose gardens, herb garden and hedges shaped into the letters W and A for King Willem and his wife Albertine. This sundial has stood here for over 400 years!

Groningen Central Railway Station was completed in 1896. We were captivated by the intricate brick and tile work.  This photo can not do it justice!

Our mind cannot comprehend the number of pushbikes in Holland. This is part of the bike storage area at the train station. They need parking attendants telling people where to park their bikes!









Can you guess what this is?
This shop specialises in peanut pastes, and this is a peanut paste fountain!  How good is that!
Could be the inspiration for a Monty Python skit - "I would like to buy some peanut paste".







Seen today - Emily, an oddities shop (boy, were there some unusual things in there!), tiles on the underside of a bridge (strange place for tiles!), houseboats on the canals, bullet marks in several buildings from the liberation of Groningen by Canadian forces in April 1945.