Holland Untour, 1996
by Lorraine Mendelsohn, Leominster, MA
Falling captive to Leiden's charms during an apartment-stay holiday
On our first visit to Holland, we never did get to The Hague. In Rotterdam we had only a brisk walk from the bus stop to the railway station, and all that we remembered of Amsterdam was what we had glimpsed from the windows of tram No.5 as we rode to and from that city's two most popular museums, the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum.This time we cut ourselves loose from the corseted confines of the package tour and its enclave environment. Instead, we followed through on a chance recommendation for Idyll, Ltd., of Media, PA. At the core of their all-inclusive apartment-stay holidays is the detailed on-site guidebook of what to see and directions for getting there.
Feeling at home
An overcast sky momentarily tempered our enthusiasm as our bus driver let us off outside the restored 18th-century townhouse in Leiden early one morning in August. But the preplanning information that accurately described what was to be our home for the two weeks dispelled any doubts that we might have had. An unexpected welcoming package o bread, an assortment of dairy products, sausage, breakfast cereal, fruit, juice, coffee and some freshly baked treats from the nearby bakery - attractively arranged in a basket on the dining table, solved the immediate need to look for food. There would be time to acquaint ourselves with the neighborhood later.For the next two weeks we set our own pace. One day we would follow our wanderlust to the windmills of the Kinderdijk, for example. But always, we noticed a growing familiarity and fondness for our new home away from home. With no time constraints, our days adventures stretched from early morning until sunset.
Even the mundane took on a fervor of its own. We became familiar faces in our neighborhood whether we mingled with locals at the small market around the corner where we shopped for groceries, or queued up at the nearby bake shop for wonderfully warm-from-the-oven crusty loaves of bread. On both sides of the counter we overcame our shyness about each other and soon were conversing like old friends.
We shopped for fresh fruits and vegetables from stands piled high at the biweekly open-air markets stretched out along Leiden's old canals, filling our small shopping cart, like the locals, and carrying home bouquets of colorful flowers, so much a part of this country's pride.
Leiden's charms
From our apartment, the walk to the city center and railway station took us across bridges over and around the canals where every turn was another scenic memory. We learned to keep to the narrow sidewalks, along the old cobble-stone streets, to avoid the ubiquitous bicycles that silently flew by.No Dutch city is without its windmills, and Leiden's most prominent landmark, the l8th-century flour mill, the Molen de Valk, became our beacon on our trips to and from the station. It was a daily guessing game to see whether the blades would be operating on this popular museum. It was also a gauge as to what to expect from the weather.
Leiden is a city whose riches have been overlooked was the way Bart in Veld, director of the local VVV (tourist) office, described his city the day we stopped by to pick up local literature. A friendly, outgoing young man, Veld is proud of his well-prepared brochures detailing self-directed walking tours. Retracing Leiden's past through its booklets "In the Young Rembrand's Footsteps" and :Along Leiden's Almshouses: takes visitors back in time. You become one with the city where Rembrandt was born and where a replica of his studio can be seen at the Old Carpenter's Yard.
Other famous names that are interwoven with Leiden's history are the painter Jan Steen; Hermann Boerhaave, the master of clinical education who taught at Leiden University, and Clusius, who brough the first Dutch tulips into flower here. It is said that Ren Descartes published anonymously here and that Einstein taught at Leiden's university.
Whether people-watching as we sipped coffee at a sidewalk cafe, shopping for souvenirs, digging into a platter of traditional apple pancakes or relaxing as we recorded our own memory-making sights from a canal tour boat, we fell captive to Leiden's charms.
Rich in history
Historically, Leiden has a proud lineage. Its university - the oldest in Holland - was founded in 1575, a reward from William the Silent for that city's victory over the Spanish invasion. The Hortus Botanicus (botanical gardens), established in 1587 for teaching medical students the use of herbal medicines, is still a local favorite.Sixteenth and 17th-century Flemish and French Protestants found refuge here as did the Puritans who fled from England. The latter lived in Leiden for nearly 12 years before returning to Plymouth to set sail on the Mayflower. The tomb of John Robinson, their leader, is in the Church of St. Peter (St. Pieterskerk). Visitors can find reminders of the Puritan settlement in Leiden yet.
The National Museum of Antiquities boasts of a particularly rich Egyptian collection, including an original first-century temple, the Temple of Taffeh. This gift from Egypt's Nasser, in recognition of Holland's efforts to rescue that country's treasures at Abu Simbel during the construction of the second Aswan Dam, dominates the museum's entrance court.
Care for a stroll?
On the flip side, it's an entirely different view of Holland at Katwijk, only a few kilometers away and reached quickly by public bus.There, on the rolling dunes, we joined groups of weekend "volkswalkers". Conversation comes readily and strangers become friends in minutes, as we did with veteran volkswalkers Janne and Peter Stroenthber, who insisted that we share the walk with them on paths through the thick, reedy grasses that eventually led onto the beach itself.
We strolled for what seemed like miles on a sun-drenched day under untypically blue "Dutch skies", the breakers rolling in softly against an outgoing tide. On the horizon, fleets of tiny sailboats with their brightly colored sails were bobbing along in the gentle breeze.
On the sand. sunbathers, their bodies glistening under protective sunscreens, were relaxing quietly, protected from prying eyes by the scrim of grass-covered dunes.
Far from the tourist crowd, our holiday in Leiden was only the beginning. With backpacks slung casually over one shoulder, cameras at the ready and our on-site guide filled to the brim with much more than we could hope to cover in our fortnight, we used our rail and bus passes far and wide.
Still, for such a small country, we could not see it all. We can hardly wait to return.