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| Picture from Sunday: The Saturday was grey |
Hello, today I continue with this blog to tell you about our two-day trip to Leiden, Holland to visit our university daughter and her boyfriend, at the beginning of December, the 9th to be exact.
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| Molen Museum De ValkOK, a raining day but the temperature was mild. About 10 degrees! |
We traveled on Saturday morning from Hamburg, before noon. We landed in Amsterdam and continued the journey to Leiden by the interregional train called Sprinter. The journey takes half an hour.
Leiden is the oldest university city in the Netherlands. With approximately 121,000 inhabitants. Our daughter and her boyfriend live 20 minutes from the train station. We walked first with our small suitcase to our Hotel Breathe, located in front of a canal, the Herengracht, before visiting the young people. The December weather was not typical winter, but the rain reminded us of November. It was almost 10 degrees and we hardly saw anyone using umbrellas, since it would be of no use because it was windy.
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| Raining Saturday |
An apartment in front of a canal, like the typical photos of Holland
We already knew Leiden, because in July we rented a house in Zoetermeer, not to far away, to help our daughter and her boyfriend find an apartment. Zoetermeer is 20 minutes from Leiden. We were all there to look for an apartment, since our daughter was about to start university in October.
It is not easy as students to find housing. It is a little easier to get shared university accommodation, in the university residences. But they wanted their separate space.
The search began in Hamburg, Germany by writing emails to request a visit to the apartments. No one answered. That's why my husband contacted a real estate agent in Leiden directly and luckily he was the first to see an apartment that was not yet advertised on the market. We were lucky because the contract was signed during that week in July. Our daughter and her boyfriend were very lucky.
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| We ate this delicious bake potato dish with spinach and eggs |
My husband had accompanied them to see the apartment. He had also helped them with the move in September 2023. He brought them some things from Germany and also took them to Ikea to buy some furniture.
This visit in December would be the first for me to see the famous department, since I had only seen it in photographs.
We arrive at the building. They live right in front of a canal. To make the experience complete, we all went to a supermarket, Dirk, a 5-minute walk from his house, because the young people would make us dinner. This is how we spent Saturday night. Talking about the city and learning about their experiences in Leiden. In this cozy apartment.
Goodbye Curtains!
On the way back we walked again. It is possible to take a taxi or a bus, but the easiest way is to walk. Or like everyone does, riding a bicycle. Our daughter and her boyfriend do it that way. So rain or no rain, we decided we would walk. This is how we had another opportunity to admire the canals and bridges, two aspects that have made Holland famous.
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| My beautiful view from the hotel window. The people at the reception said we should pay extra! |
And since we had a break in the rain, we walked slowly. Which allowed us to verify that just like in Amsterdam, in Leiden there are plenty of houses without curtains. That's how it is! Almost 100 percent of the houses or apartments did not use them. So if we turned around quickly, we could see how its inhabitants were spending their Saturday nights.
And we arrived at the hotel. We had a wonderful view from our room: the Christmas tree in the hotel courtyard. Before going to sleep, we close the curtains. I was very happy that our room did have them.
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| View from the Breathe Hotel. Amazing! |
How do the Dutch in Leiden spend their Sunday morning?
In the morning we woke up to the visit of a hotel employee who brought us our breakfast to our room. We had some specialties for breakfast such as the Dutch bread basket and chocolate chips called Hagelslag. This is eaten on a slice of bread. This delicacy is never missing from the Dutch breakfast. And of course, we also tasted other delicacies.
The city was slowly waking up. With almost no tourists, the inhabitants of Leiden slowly settled into the chairs of the cafes along the banks of the Oude Rijn River, or entertained themselves in shops such as boutiques or any other business. But yes, unlike Germany or other countries in Europe, the stores are open on Sundays. Wonderful! Our university couple really enjoys this option.
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| Sunday Morning: Leiden was getting ready for the breakfast and the time around the shops |
Our daughter and her boyfriend arrived by bicycle to the Waax restaurant. There we all enjoyed Leiden-style burgers. I was almost on the verge of ordering the Nachos with cheese, but I didn't and I didn't regret it, because then some diner near our table ordered them and no, I didn't crave them.
Unfortunately we were running out of time in Leiden. The 4 of us went to the airport, as our daughter would say see you soon to the two of us and her boyfriend. He would leave to visit his family in South Africa. Our daughter would come to visit us to spend Christmas with us in Hamburg. But for now she would stay in Leiden to finish her studies before the Christmas holidays.
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| Holland is not just canals, but lots of bridges, of course! |
Amsterdam's Christmas gift for these travel to us, were Christmas carols performed by a Band. I loved the musicians' costumes. A Christmas combination but in Dutch Blue and white.
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| Bye, bye Amsterdam. We will back soon! |
The return flight with KLM to Hamburg was perfect. We really enjoyed the company of our young family and having enjoyed two relaxing days in Leiden. Holland is definitely a wise decision to spend more time in its attractive cities. I'll tell you about our next visits.
Thanks for reading and happy 2024!
