Someone suggested that our blog has had a stroke. Actually it has just been lacking any good photos to post or good stories to tell. You know how life can be. It has been a very long grey winter from our window adn I can hardly remember what summer is like.
Remember that cold spell in Europe in early February? Seems weeks ago now. We had the good fortune to spend a weekend in Leiden, in the Netherlands. Well I should say that I had the good fortune, because Phil had the 'pleasure' of supervising students at a math competition.
Firstly, for those that think you can whisk around Europe very quickly on fast trains, well you can, but not in Luxembourg, Belgium or the Netherlands. We took 4 trains and 7 hours to get from Luxembourg to Leiden. A journey which would take about 4.5 hours in the car. At least the train is kind of relaxing, and we all got to see the frozen sea near Rotterdam - very impressive. Leiden is about 15 minutes on the train north of The Hague.
Leiden is a lovely town just off the tourist trail with a good number of 17th century buildings. And it is especially picturesque when the many canals which wind through the town are frozen solid. One realises that every dutch person must own a cycle AND a pair of ice skates. They also seem particularly fond of eating small fishy things, cheese and chocolate sprinkes. If we hadn't been travelling by train I would have bought a huge bunch of tulips from the markets.
For almost 500 years Leiden has revolved around its university, with some 20,000 students currently, which makes it a lively and interesting place. Apparently when William of Orange liberated the town from the Spanish in 1575, he offered them no taxes or a university. They made a good decision and like all university towns there are cheap eats (relatively), cheap haircuts and good museums.
While watching a documentary recently we learnt that The University of Leiden is famous for the Leyden jar, a capacitor made from a glass jar, invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746. (The start of electricity as we know it).
I got to wander around museums for a day and was quite pleased with myself that I managed to avoid stepping in front of a cyclist, not the easiest feat in the Netherlands for a dedicated walker. Really, there are ALOT of bikes. Leiden lies in one of the most densely inhabited parts of Europe, but somehow seemed very livable. I think I like Holland.
While watching a documentary recently we learnt that The University of Leiden is famous for the Leyden jar, a capacitor made from a glass jar, invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746. (The start of electricity as we know it).
I got to wander around museums for a day and was quite pleased with myself that I managed to avoid stepping in front of a cyclist, not the easiest feat in the Netherlands for a dedicated walker. Really, there are ALOT of bikes. Leiden lies in one of the most densely inhabited parts of Europe, but somehow seemed very livable. I think I like Holland.
