Wednesday, July 20
Sadly our first cruise ended this morning, so it was back to being totally independent travellers. Our travels took us from the cruise terminal via bus to Haarlem Central, a taxi to the station, a train from Haarlem to Leiden, and then a short walk to the Golden Tulip Hotel. It was hot and sunny today, and it felt like home with this burst of hot weather - we have waited 5 weeks for summer here!
We rested for a while in the afternoon heat, and then set out to explore Leiden on foot. Like most of Holland it is flat and easy to walk around as long as you keep an eye out for bikes coming from all directions! With the heat we think most people here had gone to the beach as it was quiet in town. We checked out some of the canals, the lovely old houses along the canals, and checked out the sights to visit tomorrow, as well as looking at potential places to eat.
We picked the Grandcafe Barrera for dinner, and what a good choice it was. Nice cold beer, confit duck with chips and salad, and apple pie with ice cream! The other big plus was the location - we sat on the sidewalk beside the famous Rapenburg Canal, watching people coming and going on their bikes and on foot, as well as in boats of all sizes cruising along the canal - everyone was taking advantage of the balmy sunny evening. We were glad we had a long walk back to the hotel, but I'm not sure how much of dinner we walked off!
Sadly our first cruise ended this morning, so it was back to being totally independent travellers. Our travels took us from the cruise terminal via bus to Haarlem Central, a taxi to the station, a train from Haarlem to Leiden, and then a short walk to the Golden Tulip Hotel. It was hot and sunny today, and it felt like home with this burst of hot weather - we have waited 5 weeks for summer here!
We rested for a while in the afternoon heat, and then set out to explore Leiden on foot. Like most of Holland it is flat and easy to walk around as long as you keep an eye out for bikes coming from all directions! With the heat we think most people here had gone to the beach as it was quiet in town. We checked out some of the canals, the lovely old houses along the canals, and checked out the sights to visit tomorrow, as well as looking at potential places to eat.
We picked the Grandcafe Barrera for dinner, and what a good choice it was. Nice cold beer, confit duck with chips and salad, and apple pie with ice cream! The other big plus was the location - we sat on the sidewalk beside the famous Rapenburg Canal, watching people coming and going on their bikes and on foot, as well as in boats of all sizes cruising along the canal - everyone was taking advantage of the balmy sunny evening. We were glad we had a long walk back to the hotel, but I'm not sure how much of dinner we walked off!
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