Look at Leiden

Leiden is only a 30 minute train ride from our home so we set aside a Saturday to return to Luke's beloved university town. It was a rainy Saturday but a fun Saturday. 

 

Classic Leiden: canal, bike and brick buildings. 

Two years and about 6 months later Luke had a chance he never thought he'd really have . . . to walk back to the building he stayed in, in Leiden. God works in astounding ways. 

We didn't go in, but there are still students living there and we had to take one more photo for evidence. 

I love this building. I can't get over the fact that people put so much beauty into a university chemistry building (now it has been converted into student housing and private apartments). 

House boats. They don't really travel, they just help diversify the real estate options in this very populated country. 

We can't visit Leiden without visiting a museum (or two) and this happens to be a shot of Leiden's new exhibit on archaeology finds in Netherlands soil. It is a fantastic, fascinating and creative exhibit. If you're in town you should be sure to take a look at it. 

De Burcht. 

That's it's name and the purpose was to be used as a save haven for the entire town of Leiden to take refuge in it in case of an attack or some other danger. It is long, long, long past being useful as a strong tower on the hill, on reason being that in my estimation Leiden would have to have a population under 1,000 inorder to fit them all in De Burcht. 

We decided to tour the Medieval fortress (de Burcht) as a way for us to find refuge . . . from the rain. Even though it doesn't actually have a roof. . .

While Leiden no longer needs de Burcht for safety reasons, it offers the best views of lovely Leiden. Keep scrolling, the best are yet to come. 

The church is quite dominant in these pictures, and after living in Europe for a couple of months I'm starting to grasp a tiny bit of how dominant church has been in their history  . . . the pews may be empty but the stones still stand as testimony that man longs to belong to something larger than himself. 

Just strolling along down memory lane. 

Food Fun

Let's face it, desserts are the best part of the meal and it's even better if they become a meal in themselves, so in case some of you are short on time while reading this post, you'll know you didn't miss out on the best parts. 

Strawberries and Nutella. The perfect partners, the strawberries were Holland grown and slightly tart, so the Nutella was the perfect contrast for their flavor. 

Just admire the beauty. 

This is evidence of our creativity. We bought some vanilla vla (custard) and it was rather bland so we designed a new dessert by swirling Nutella and strawberries in with it to make yumminess happen. 

I kept seeing people buy this in the grocery store and I kept thinking that it looked like such delicious and amazing pudding . . .

. . .  but I wasn't expecting this. Apparently the word "pudding" means something slightly, er, more stiff here. It was kind of like a mousse, airy jello, pudding. The flavors were great . . . the texture was just a bit too confusing, I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think it will be a repeat buy. 

Frambozen = raspberry. Vla = custard. I figured that combination was a safe one. Boy was I wrong. I should have known that something that shade of pink could only taste like one thing: Pepto - Bismol. 

And I mean EXACTLY like pepto-dismal---oops I mean pepto-bismal. 

Drooling yet? There are even more flavors but they are not regularly in the grocery store, so when I find a place that sells them I'll add to my collection. See any varieties that appeal to you? No promises, but let me know and I'll maybe, just maybe find a way to get one to you sooner or later. 

My recommendation? The caramel. It is exquisite.

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On to the main course. 

Mozzarella and pesto is a delicious frozen pizza combination. 

It's called wit loaf and this is what it looks like before you cook it. 

This is what it looks like after you have cooked it, dressed it with melted butter and paprika and added boiled eggs. Good old fashioned Dutch dish. This will be a regular on our menu. 

What is this? That's what we wondered when we saw it in the market and so we decided to try it. 

It turns out that it is called "piel de sapo", which my handy Spanish knowledge tells me means 'toad/frog's skin'. Isn't that appetizing?

This is what it looks like on the inside and when it is inside your mouth it just basically tastes like Honeydew Melon. 

If you want ethnic food in The Netherlands you've got to explore Indonesian. We did and we found some wonderful flavors. We are also keeping Conimex in business. 

A closer view of the noodles, veggies, atjar (pickled peppers), sambal (spicy pepper paste), and ketjap manis (a sweet sort of soy sauce), plus some rice chip like things for the side (kroepoek). If it doesn't sound good that's just because you don't have the wonderful smell under your nose to change your mind. 

MEXICAN FOOD! Actually, far from it, but it made some decent Tex-mex. We probably would never have bought these items in the U.S. but here they are a precious commodity gifted to us by our American co-worker. Her grocery store carries them and ours does not. 

We did our best to compile Mexican ingredients, including cilantro, and in the end we did pretty well, the only thing that was sorely lacking was the Mexican/cheddar cheese. We had to settle for Gouda cheese instead. 

Can you guess what this cooking experiment is?

Pannekoeken! We topped them with all sorts of things: we tried out every appetizing combination of peanut butter, nutella, banana, apple, jam, and butter that we could think of and we ended up so full of pannekoeken we could hardly move.

The restaurants add fruits and such to the batter while it is baking so we wanted to try as well. We still have a lot to learn about pannekoek making, but it was certainly edible. 

Soup in a bag might sound like a strange idea, but here there is a company that does it way better than the soup in a can alternative that we're used to. This particular tomato soup was not only bursting with flavor, it was also bursting with veggies and had a few tiny sausage surprises to spice it up. And what is tomato soup without some Gouda grilled cheese sandwiches?

Stampot. 

This is come in from the cold and fill your self with a bowl of comfort -- food. 

Where's the ketchup you might ask? Forget ketchup, the best way to eat fresh cut fries is with plenty of special mayo-like sauce and some curry goodness to top it off. 

Delft Day

Welcome to our day in the city of Delft. It is the Delft so famous for the blue and white painted china pieces. It is the Delft of quaint old brick streets, bustling markets, and a church worthy of royalty. We saw it all. But you only get to see a couple churches. 

My apologies. 

But, I have to leave you things to discover for yourselves and a reason to come visit and see the sites!

Plus, my photography skills wouldn't be able to do the town justice anyway. But you may be comforted knowing that you can probably look the town up on Google Images and find photos that are even more picturesque than real life. . . if that is possible in Delft. 

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy our little visit to Delft . . .

We started in de Nieuwe Kerk (the New Church) which is not so new. And the observant viewer will notice that the steeple is multicolored, this is due to some reconstruction as a result of lightning.  

The Nieuwe Kerk is the resting place of Dutch Royalty. The raised block framed by rope lifts to reveal a vault where the caskets are lain. In modern days a crane is used  to lift the gigantic slab, in the days of old they must have had employed giants. 

The most decorated and perhaps the Royal that all the royals of The Netherlands owe their royalty to is William I, Prince of Orange. He led the revolt against the Spanish and over threw their rule so that The Netherlands could be an independent country. In 1584, he was assassinated in Delft and so they buried him there in this magnificent monument. 

In a church in The Netherlands you always have to look up to see how the ceiling is decorated. 

The Oude Kerk (the Old Church) of Delft is indeed old. The building project that still stands was begun in 1246 AD, but a church had been meeting in that spot but the spot was the meeting place of the church in Delft since about 1000 AD. We saw a map of Delft in 1246 AD  . . . it gave a whole new meaning to the idea of a 'small and rural'. 

The interior of the Oude Kerk. This church has been through a lot over the years, so unfortunately those windows are fairly new. 

But this pulpit is an old treasure. 

The craftsmanship is indescribable, and all the more for having survived since 1548, yes ladies and gentlemen, the pulpit has been decorating Delft 40 years longer than Prince William of Orange. 

A side chapel of the church with miniature pulpit and miniature organ (right). 

Town square of Delft. A sort of market was going on so some very modern is mixed in with the classic buildings.

This sign is letting us know that we are leaving Delft. 

Yes, we traveled to and from Delft on our bicycles and we enjoyed all 16 miles (round trip) of it.  

I enjoyed the trip so much I thought I would share some of it via photos. 

Plus, I've been wanting to show you what it looks like to ride bike in The Netherlands so that I can illustrate the comfort and safety involved in the experience. I wish the U.S. would copy this design. 

The Netherlands may be small, but somehow there is plenty of open space to enjoy. 

Here is a good example of a little country house. We enjoyed many such sites during our ride.