Amsterdam – Dear Liza

Finding the Unexpected in Leiden

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Walking through Leiden, we kept coming across wonderful quirks that reminded me of Portland. First, there were these little mosaics, each the size of one paving brick, in places around the city.

There were enough that I stopped taking pictures of them, yet never so close together as to be boring.

There was also a lot of public art, mostly in the form of bronze statues; a series of young men selling things, like flowers, fish, and fabric. I suppose this was a celebration of Leiden’s history as a market town.

Some of the statues are also draped with string, and one had a key placed at his feet! I wonder what the hidden message was, and for whom.

Some things, we may never know.

Another bronze statue, near the main entrance to the University, was designed to encourage public voices of dissent. This podium, with a little riser behind it, has “Protest” and other words carved on the front. Student challenges to the status quo is celebrated. Hooray for young ideas!

Finally, we happened to be in town for the annual Parade of Boats. It was described by our waitress as a yearly party where “drunk people in boats make a show for drunk people on land.”

A few dozen groups like dance classes, choirs, clubs, or just groups of friends, rode through the city’s canals in decorated boats, playing music and entertaining the crowd. It was clear that many of the paraders, as well as many of the audience, had had a few drinks. But, as far as I could tell, no harm done.
Our hotel room on the second floor gave us a front row seat.

And it was a magnificent party!

Well, that’s all I’m going to tell you about Leiden for now. Tomorrow is our flight to Billund!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Into Leiden

Dear Liza,

After the usual disorientation of an overseas flight and time adjustment, we are in Leiden, the Netherlands, and seeing all sorts of lovely things.

We are staying at a hotel called CTY Books, which is a modern place built inside a really old book sellers (from the 1700s). In a perfect blending of new and old, it has super nifty electronic locks but traditional Dutch stairs; AC for the hot days but is perched on a centuries-old canal.

The parts of Leiden we have seen are busy, modern city businesses that work in a very canal laced geography. This giant windmill sits beside a canal on the way from the train station.

Canals are common in The Netherlands because the land is low and swampy, so for centuries the people have dug canals to drain the water away. The canals also make for nice transport, to and from the sea as well as around town.

Our first day, we found De Brucht, which is the remains of an old castle.

It was originally built up as a high place to escape flooding, but when foreign armies threatened, they put a castle on top.

in in the midafternoon we started drooping from jet lag, and went up for a nap. Three hours later we were fit for more site-seeing, and wandered the neighborhood. The old, well maintained buildings and canals make everything look like a fairy tale.

De Landstrader, the restaurant just below our hotel, serves wonderful French fries, as well as salads and dinners. We stopped for some food and wine before heading back in for the night. We ate inside as the canal side tables were getting noisy and we like our conversation un-shouted.

The sunset was stunning at almost 10 p.m. as we headed up to our cozy room.

Tomorrow will be another full day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

About Bridges

Dear Liza,

I was doing some remembering about bridges the other day, after my lovely walk across the Tilikum Crossing and Hawthorne Bridges here in Portland. I hunted through my photos and found the most beautiful bridges from our travels.

Big cities tend to be built on rivers, so they need bridges. The Thames is crossed by 35 bridges inside London’s city limits. It is such an old city, the first bridge was built 2000 years ago!

Millennium Pedestrian Bridge, London, built in 2000

When William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on Avon, the lovely Clopton bridge was already 80 years old. It was built when King Henry VII was in charge, in 1487. And we got to row a boat under it!

Clopton Bridge across the Avon, Stratford-on-Avon

The city of Cambridge, England, was founded in 1120, and is literally where the River Cam has a bridge over it. I didn’t see that old bridge, but this beauty was built much later, as part of the University. It is called the Bridge of Sighs and was built in 1831. Queen Victoria said it was the prettiest part of the city.

Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, is built on the River Amstel and lots of canals. It has about 2,500 bridges!! Most of them don’t have names, just numbers used to keep track for repair work. I took this picture at sunset one evening in 2008. It still makes me smile.

Paris’s Pont Neuf (which means New Bridge) was actually built in 1578, and is now the OLDEST bridge in the city. It was a completely new type of bridge, because it didn’t have buildings on it, and gave long views up and down the River Seine. It became a popular meeting place for people of all ages and classes, and helped turn Paris into the interesting city it is.

Well, that’s all for today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you about our own bridges here in Portland .

Love,

Grandma Judy