Boat trip to Leiden

Today was really nice, warm, sunny weather (at last!). The day started with a walk in the sand dunes with Marjan, JulieJanne, and Tjebbe the dog.

Tjebbe, ready for action!

The sand dunes are actually a part of Holland’s elaborate system to make sure that the low-lying lands never flood, like the last great flood they had in 1953. When it comes to reclaiming land, and the Dutch people’s never-ending battle with water, you really have to admire their persistence (and stubbornness!).

In the afternoon, we took our lunch of Nutella sandwiches and tea onto the boat for a trip to Leiden! The boat ride itself was lots of fun and our route was very pretty.

On the boat ride to Leiden.

Leiden was a very nice city, too – it’s a university town, so it has a very young, energetic vibe to it. Sjaak showed me around the town a little bit and then I went shopping through the market there, which was very large and varied. I even found some more genie pants! 🙂 Leiden was also, in many ways, just as pretty as Amsterdam – it had the canals, the bridges, the cobblestone streets, and the cute canal houses. It also had the benefit of feeling less touristy than Amsterdam.

The boat ride back was much warmer, with the sun out in full force and the wind at our backs. I fell asleep for part of it.