Tag: Travel to the Netherlands

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

5,002 Miles in 9 Hours

Dear Liza,

I’ll be seeing you in Horsens in a week or so, but for now, we are in Utrecht, The Netherlands. We caught a flight that went directly from Portland to Amsterdam, so we didn’t have to change planes. That meant that for 5,0002 miles, we sat.
And sat.

And sat some more. There was a dinner, (better than expected), and lots of movies to choose from (“The Lady Eve” was disappointing, “Babe” was adorable.) Sleep was difficult.

But this morning, ready or not, we landed in Amsterdam. After walking for what felt like miles down corridors, getting the luggage and presenting our passports, we were well and truly in the country!

Hooray!!

But we didn’t want to be still. We wanted to get to Utrecht, where we had never been before, and see what there was to see. Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Bridgett figured out how to buy train tickets from the machine, and we enjoyed the modernist vibe as we headed down the moving ramp to the platform.

The train ride was totally quiet, as we had accidentally chosen a “Silence Stilte”, a quiet car. It was probably for the best, anyway. We were exhausted and the scenery filled our brains.

We disembarked at Utrecht Central and, following Grandpa Nelson’s directions, we ambled past the farmer’s market, hip shops and yummy-looking restaurants to find the Leonardo Hotel, our home for the next three days. We stretched out (I even napped a bit) and then headed out in search of adventure.

We discovered that Utrecht is a wonderful mixture of buildings from the 1600s and the early 2000s, ancient bricks and stone overlaid with neon and cartoons.

The canals that help drain the soggy soil and deliver goods to warehouses now provide homes for ducks and ambiance for visitors.

We found Meneer Potter (Meneer means Mister) and had delicious salads and bread and wine. Our night’s sleep was bumpy because our body clocks were still mixed up. We all woke up about 3, were awake for a few hours, then dropped back off to sleep.

Saturday morning we woke up groggy, but ready for a whole ‘nother adventure.

Stay tuned!

Love,

Grandma Judy