Stuff to See Around Zwolle

Around Beelstraat:

1. There's a pocket forest in Zandhove which may be interesting to walk through. 

2. In the park across Staatssecretarislaan, there's an area around the bend with a few farm animals, like goats and rabbits. I know it's for the kids, but I always have fun just watching them. 

3. Park benches can be found all around that area too!

4. John may have a bicycle that you can borrow - just make sure you follow the road rules and learn the different hand signals for turning. I don't think you'll find better bike lanes in the world than there are in Holland. :) The Dutch are crazy about their bicycles.

5. I love exploring supermarkets if only to see the differences between theirs and ours. For example, they have a whole section dedicated to cheese, and milk.

If you have more time, for less than two euros you can catch a bus into the city. The ticket is valid for one hour, and you can switch buses as long as you're going in the same direction.  From there you can explore to your hearts content. Just make sure you make it to the bus back. 

To catch the bus going back, all you have to do is catch the one across the street from where you originally alighted. You'll find the bus system easier to use than the one we have in Manila. You just need to pay attention to the number of bus stops, make sure you got the name of the place correctly. names of places in Dutch can be very long - only because they write the word street or lane together with the name. It's like saying - Epifaniodelosantosavenue instead of EDSA.

In Zwolle City Center you can explore the following:

1. Sassenpoort - It's the city gate built in the 14th century. The size of the gate indicated how wealthy the city was at that time. Zwolle was famous for making church bells. Sassenstraat 54 Tel. +31 38 421 66 26

2. City Walls - You can find this near the harbor. There's a former library of a medieval dominican monastery located near there. Like many other Dutch cities, Zwolle was built like Intramuros. You'll actually still see the moat around it. 

3. Peperbus - is a small beautiful church in the city center. I think for a small fee you can actually climb all the way to the top of the bell tower and take an aerial view of the city. It's breathtaking. John and I did that one day, and it can be quite a climb up.

4. Grote Kerk (St. Michael) - It's a Gothic church that was built between the 14th and 15th century. It's now a protestant church

5. VVV Tourist office - You can get pasalubong from there! As well as find out what else to see. Because it's a tourist office, I'm sure you'll be able to find a good map of the city and the surrounding areas there. Tourist Offices are normally my first stop in any travel.

6. Grote Markt -  On saturdays, they have an open market at Grote Markt, if I'm not mistaken it's near Media Markt. I think you'll need to switch busses to get here unless you'd like to walk from Sassenpoort which is the bus station I know. John might be able to help you work out the bus routes, otherwise you can ask around. Don't worry, people can be surprisingly friendly.

7. Stedelijk museum - It's in the center of the old town. Drostenhuis was built in the 16th century. It's about the history of the city. Melkmarkt 41, Tel. +31384214650,
 www.museumzwolle.nl

8. Ecodrome - It's a themepark about nature and the environment - Willemsvaart 19

9. Harley Davidson & Indian Museum, Oude Almeloseweg 2-4, Tel. +31 38 453 41 36