Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Leiden, Katwijk and Panbos

Hoi! Arrived in Leiden yesterday. We're with Ton's oldest sister and her family. We spent the day wandering around Leiden and planning our next adventure. Monday I leave for Brussels! We tried to book something for Paris but it wasn't in the cards. It was possible to get a hotel but not possible to get a ticket for the Thalys (high speed train). Oh, well. Maybe next year. We tried London, but had the same train issues. We settled for Belgium. I'm going to the Magritte museum! Whee! I'm happy with the outcome.

Today, we went to the Panbos and had a little walk about. It's a lovely wooded park, with lots of trails that lead to a "tank wall" that was built by the Germans to stop the Allies from coming in from the North Sea. Ton and the boys kicked around a soccer ball. It was a gorgeous day and a leisurely walk. Nice!

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After that, we went to Katwijk an Zee (http://tinyurl.com/yg2umju) to the beach! I love going to Katwijk-- it feels so different from our beaches. There was a lot of activity even though it was very cool with a lot of wind. A bit of cold doesn't keep the Dutch down for very long! There was even a man and his son who were shrimping with small box nets. They caught enough shrimp for their lunch and were proud to show off their catch.

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I'm sipping tea now, waiting for Marianne and Peter to finish dinner. I'm being treated so well, I may not ever come home. It's a cozy and comfortable house and a wonderful family.

Tomorrow, it's off to the Hague and the Gemeente Museum (http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/index.php?id=1&langId=en). Then back to Amstelveen tomorrow night. Thursday, it's off to Groningen.

As usual, you can see the rest of my photos from today on my Flickr page.

3 comments:

Susan Barker said...

wow, that tea looks wonderful like dessert.looks like your having a great time.you are one lucky girl..

Susan Barker said...

suprised they don't have you on a bike trail.

Susan Barker said...

I found so many more photos than I realized were here.Spent much of the afternoon feeling as if I were right along side of you.what kind of camera are you using?Makes awesome pics.Did I see Ann Franks house in one of those of the canals?Take me right back.Love seeing the old part of the city facing the canals and then the new.Rode on one of those glass top tourist boats 30 some years ago.Wish I could get my hands on the pics I had of Amsterdam.Can't wait to see the photos of den hague.Was almost bitten by a german shepherd standing at a little sandwich shack at the board walk getting a coke.Remember a casino type place like out on a pier that had been on a game show or something.to long ago to try to rmember.have fun,take lots of pic.