Another idyllic scene

I always thought Leiden was beautiful, but it's even more so at this time of year . . .

Another view of the Queen's Day Eve crowd.

This is taken from the bridge shown in previous photos.

Interesting roofline

Patriotic Windmill

Leiden's central windmill was decorated for Queen's Day.

Wall Poetry

I found a site called www.muurgedichten.nl, which means Wall Poetry. Several of these scenes were featured. It sounds like they were painted as part of the Wall Poetry project. Very interesting . . . .

Colorful Lettering

Great color scheme for "rainbow writing"

Neon Kinki

Boats on the Canal

The boats were out in full force on Sunday, Queen's Day Eve. The wonderful weather didn't hurt.

Traffic jam

Look at all those boats lined up. A traffic jam in the canal.

Queen's Day Eve crowd

And the rock band hasn't even started playing, yet!

Franks

I can't read the second word--is that "spop"--not too legible. Pretty signage, though.

Rijn in Leiden

Another pretty scene from Leiden

A Pair of Verses

Rapenburg Canal

I stopped for lunch along this canal. I was disappointed and left when they hadn't even brought a menu after 1/2 an hour. They weren't very organized. I had a nice time sitting there and sketching, though, while I waited. If I hadn't been hungry, I would have stayed longer.

Medieval Arch

Verses in Leiden

Due to the fact that we forgot about the three-day weekend coming up, we didn't make plans to travel far enough in advance. I decided this was a good weekend to further explore Leiden. I headed out Sunday afternoon and came across this house. How wonderful to be able to just pull the boat in next to the house.

Rijnsburger Canal

This canal flows from the Rheine near the edge of central Leiden. The building to the left is two-story Wherff, a bar and popular lunch spot. This photo is taken a short distance from our hotel.

Dinner on Alphin-on-the-Rijn

We got off the train in Alphin and dinner at Protos, a Spanish Tapas restaurant. As is obvious from this photo, Alphin has more modern buildings--not as pretty, as far as I'm concerned, but our seats next to the river made up for that. Earlier, small boats had been speeding down the river--luckily, they weren't noisy crafts. What a relaxing dinner we had before hopping back on the train for the evening ride back to Leiden.

Shisha Close-up

Decorated walls

Somebody got creative!

Canal in Utrecht

Such a pretty city!

La Ligna

Mix Sign

What a fun sign! This store sold pretty, plastic accessories. They had the look of that shimmery jewelry we have in the US made from the glass

process developed by NASA. You had to touch this jewelry to know it was plastic.

Stone fragments

The Utrecht Central Museum housed many lettered fragments.

Entrance to Utrecht Central Museum

I thought that this metal work was very pretty. The designer must have a background in pointed pen flourishing.

Party next to the canal

People were out in full-force, enjoying the warm weather! The sidewalk cafes were packed and other people set up tables in the center of town. One group was playing poker and drinking beer and wine, between the street and the canal.

In this snapshot, there is a group having what looks to be a craft-party. Later in the day, that group was gone and there were about four or five tables set up, each full of women working on some kind of craft. Looked like fun--it would be a great place for a calligraphy workshop--as long as it wasn't a windy day!

Utrecht

Our planning for the weekend didn't quite work out. We were in the U.S. for most of April, waiting for our work visas to be processed. We forgot that Queen's Day, April 30, was a holiday and by the time we tried to make reservations to go to Paris, the trains were all booked.

I missed the tulip fields! By the time I was authorized to enter the Netherlands again, they had passed their peak. I heard that the season was extra short this time, due to a draught--no rain for several weeks.

We decided to spend the weekend locally for a change, and on Saturday, Faye, Heidi and I took the train to Utrecht, about a 40 minute, very pleasant ride. Along the way, we saw pasture, after pasture, with at least one baby lamb. Spring is here!

My guidebook talked about the canals in Utrecht being dug out, so that their level was 10 feet below street level--that compensated for changes in the Rheine River level. I don't know what they used those warehouses for, since I would think that they would have expecteded flood ingfrom time to time.

Late April in Netherlands: Dinner at Rhodos; dock

Rhodos is our favorite Greek Restaurant and now that it's warm, they have a floating platform set up with lots of outdoor tables. Everyone is taking advantage of the warm weather and most of the tables were full, even though it was fairly early for dinner. I never needed a coat or jacket this entire April-May trip, even at night.

April in Scottsdale: Joyce's Clogs

Dennis and I went to Phoenix-Scottsdale for the second weekend in May. I attended a color pencil/lettering workshop with Jane Shibata. Joyce brought her clogs along. She has Belgium relatives on her father's side.

Pre-P\peak Flower Fields

Daffodils and Hyacinths are starting to come into bloom. This view is from the train, returning to Leiden

Delft-type Tile Piece

Very Old Architectural Element

Amsterdam Heraldry

This plaque was inside the Amsterdam Historical Museum.

A couple colleages came to town and, of course, everyone wants to go to Amsterdam. First, we took on a canal tour, then walked over to the museum.

Zaanse Gallery Door Sign

This gallery was in a big house--it appeared that the owners live in part of it.

Zaanse - in town

A neat old cart sitting in front of a wonderful-looking sandwich shop/bakery.

A fun carved silhouette

Zaans Historical Museum

Next we went to one of the most interesting museums I had ever been to, the Zaans Historical Museum. We spent several hours, even though it was a fairly small museum. Here is the text on display at the exhibits entrance, translated from Dutch:

Rotating sails, wind and water. Green Zaans houses. . . Home. Life in the Zaan region. Look at the Zaans bracket clock, the painted household goods, the Assendelft cupboard. Enjoy the atmosphere of bygone days. Follow the drama of Zaandam and dream on. . .
The sound of windmills, the factory whistle. The scent of wood and cocoa. The sweat of earning one's living. Paddle wheels and axles. . . a life of toil in the 'Red' Zaan region. Listen: to the beat of hammers, the singing of workers, the clank of steel and the hiss of steam . . . Listen, it's a Zaans symphony
Wind . . . the life-force of the Zaan region. Whisperings of stories. The Zaan region at work. Processing cocoa, flour,, paint, mustard, oil, timber. . . Paintings made with oil and paint from the windmills; portraits of Zaans pride. Feel the wind, natural energy.
To Broek in Waterland or Nova Zembla, near or far, the only way to travel was by water. Or over the ice, with ice boats and sleds. Water . . . the Zaan region's vital artery for transport, trade and shipbuilding. The route to the whale fisheries. Whale oil refineries, a heroic past. See the whale bones, left high and dry in the Zaan region . . .

"Extreme" Clogs

Now, these are interesting!

More Modern Clogs

More clogs

Clogs

There were more varieties than I ever imagined.

Beggar Goat

Isn't he a beauty!

A Beggar Duck Couple

The Windmills

These windmills are still working (mustard-grinding, artists' paint-grinding, etc.) and you can pay to see a demo and/or you can purchase their products.

Restaurant Sign

Translated, this restaurant is called "The Hope of the Black Whale". I wanted to eat here, but it didn't open until fairly late and we wanted to catch the train back to Leiden.

Copperplate on Zaanse Schons Shop

Copperplate is prevalent in this area, on both the new buildings and on the signage and documents throughout the area's history museum.

Zaanse Schons Shops

There was a good-sized cheese shop in this row. Everything was out for tasting and the place was packed. I got smoked cow cheese, smoked goat cheese and a carroway-coriander gouda. They were all delicious and were fun to share with friends in the U.S.