Netherlands 2004 - Day 4

Scott Andrew BirdScott Andrew Bird
July 2, 2004


Amsterdam -> Leiden

PeopleLuxury is a spa bath, a large bottle of Grolsch, fresh local produce and cable TV. All this is what is easily the largest hotel room I've ever been in - the bathroom alone was bigger than the entire suite at the Botel.

This morning at breakfast I ignored the cold meats and cheeses completely, stuffing a croissant with bacon + butter before heading out to the station. It had been raining since I woke around 9am, and I decided to head south in the hope of finding good weather.

My town of choice was Leiden, a reasonable size at a population of around 120,000; and well on the way to Den Haag - a city I've wanted to visit for some time (since visiting Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum last April to be precise - noting that much of Mondriaan's work is housed in Den Haag). Upon arrival in Leiden I visited the VVV to see what accomodation was on offer, and whilst the city centre hotels were full I was able to find a room a few km out. As I only had the name of the hotel and a bus number (local maps didn't go out that far unless I wanted to buy a directory) I caught the bus to the hotel, put my bags down and walked back into town. Indicative of the fact that this is not a route often sought out by pedestrians, there was a road and a dual cyclepath; no footpath.

The town centre was stunningly beautiful, and I spent the afternoon wandering around town admiring the architecture, canals and generally just enjoying the sun. For the brief time it decided to rain (little more than a sunshower) I took solace in an Italian restaurant, which served the nicest spaghetti (home-made of course) I have ever tasted.

At around 5:30 I popped into a supermarket for a quick dinner I could have at the hotel (I really do miss having a kitchen) and was confronted with the largest wall of dutch beers I've ever seen. A large bottle of Grolsch, local ham and freshly baked bread accompanied me back to the hotel.

After a solid day's walking, a hot bath, food, beer and a few hours' TV (I still love dutch commercials) went down exceedingly well.

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