Groningen is not entirely new to me, as I've been there on a vacation ten plus years ago. But as I was there with family - who isn't much into history or museums - I didn't get to see much of the historic sites. The Martini tower - approximately 500 years old - is with its 97 meters the tallest building in the city and is a complete workout with its 300 stone steps with no elevator. This tower used to be a watchtower and an orientation point and has now become a tourist attraction.
Now, I've had my fair share of climbing mountains and historic buildings, it's still a challenge for me every time I go into one of these buildings. Especially because of the narrow stairs and low "ceilings", where the Martini tower is no exception of. We constantly had to warn the tallest amongst us with "watch your head".
It was nice to see the old bells and the mechanism - that kept the town safe all these years - still intact and knowing that the craftmanship going into making all these different parts is timeless and priceless. Especially when one realizes that most things don't last.
There were also miniatures of the Martini tower and its bells as reference point on one of the floors and there was also the possibility to do as the tower keeper of olden times and ring the bells. It takes some technical insight and understanding of physics if one wants to ring the bells. Unfortunately for me, the bells "strung" me along instead of me ringing those 🤣. 
At certain heights we were able to look down and see how far we were from the ground floor and when we finally reached the top floor (that's open to the public) we were greeted by hard gusts of wind and grey skies. That didn't deter us from enjoying the view and marveling at the beautiful clock behind us. There was even a short video section about the history of the Martini tower. Content and cold from the heavy winds we left the building.
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