Wednesday - looks like Seattle

We awoke to some sunshine but by 9am it is grey and cloudy and very much looks like rain.  Alas!  Guess this will be a museum day.

Continuation and a teensy bit of catch-up.  Here are some interesting photos from Elaine's camera (thanks for the photo's E)
From the beach, another view of the little "houses"and a most interesting sign on the beach front indicating the time and the temperature and the water temperature and high and low tide and and and - very good

Here is a piece of sculpture, built into an office building (along the highway)

So, back to Wednesday and into Leiden.  A very interesting and old city.  And luckily it happened to be a market day, which is always fun.

Here is the fellow setting up the book store,

Short pause for a beverage, you can see the stalls in the background.  Leiden doesn't have a central square (markt) so there are barges all along the main canal and these serve as floating restaurants,

Me, too.  Nearby is the Burcht.  It is an artificial mound, build between 800 and 1100, in order to avoid flooding.  But it provides amazing views of the city, too.

[Well - there are great difficulties with the üploading"speeds"in this house, so no more photos.  Sorry, as there are some great ones.  Maybe later.]  On the Burcht was commemorated the defeat of the Spanish (with whom the Dutch had been at war for over 80 years) and they celebrate on October 3rd with a large pot of Hutspot - a stew made of beef, carrots, potatoes and onions. (Leiden's Onzet)

Thursday was a very rainy, gray day.  We eventually went into den Haag (approx. 20km south) visited the Mesdag Collectie, an art collection made by Hendrik W. Mesdag and his wife, Sientje.  It is housed in the Museum he had built next door to his house in the Hague.  He is one of my favorite 19th century Dutch painters.  We then visited one of the funniest shops around, check out: http://www.kadoomdehoek.nl/.  It translates to the ''shop on the corner".  They have some really silly, fun things.  We enjoyed dinner with Caro and Rob.  Rob is off on a fund-raising bicycle ride over the next two days of approximately 170km.  Phew!  Caro and I basted an antique quilt top I had brought her as a surprise.  No, we haven't stopped sewing or quilting.  :-)