tonight's menu: HUTSPOT !

wealth of imagination

Albert Einstein said that 'imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.' 

Nowadays, couple of bridges are wrapped up with wools. people are knitting and they are wrapping them around the bridges. I do not know if there is any specific purpose of doing it (probably there is) nonetheless it is colourful, bright, alive, animate and creative..

Leiden Saturday market

The market is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays but the saturday market is much bigger than the wednesday market. The market is spread over the bridges along the canal in the city center. You can almost find anything in the market. The variety of the things sold is amazing. You can find buttons for your shirt, ribbons for your bed (!), delicious waffles, fresh tomatoes or any kind of cheese.. and the floweers.. you want to buy all of them! Orchids, beautiful sunflowers, sowbreads, pinky, white or yellow daisies.. it is impossible to see a person to pass by the flowers without buying a bouquet. It is always crowded but if the weather is nice on that saturday, it will be jam-packed.

I tried the famous herring today and I  think that it was not so bad as I imagined it to be. I also tried something called Bali, kind of fish and it was quiet good too. there is a variety of sea food that fish-lovers will surely enjoy.

N.B: if you ever decide to study in netherlands, make sure you know how to bike ..

a sunny day

It is almost a month since I have first arrived in Netherlands. The weather is usually grey- windy and rainy. However, today there was no clouds in the sky, no rain but it was a little windy. As I studied 2 years in Scotland, I am used to grey weather :) number of days we see sun in the sky in Scotland is limited.
so I walked around the city which looked even more beautiful in the sunny weather. People were having coffees ( Dutch coffee is really nice), pies (apparently they have great applepies!), wines, beers, sandwiches.. they were sitting in the cafes talking to each other,  reading their books, shopping, having boat trips..

as the city has many canals, boats are very popular and people having boat trips while sipping their drinks and watching around seem to enjoy theirselves a lot. Having a boat trip is a good way of sightseeing.

A little background and history of Leiden

Leyden or Leiden is one of the oldest cities in Holland. It is situated on the so-called Old Rhine which flows through the city. Its municipality has about 120,000 inhabitants. The city is located 20 km away from The Hague to its south (about 15 minutes by train) and 40 km away from Amsterdam  to its north (20-30 minutes by train).

In the 16th century, the city was besieged by the Spanish.After a partial relief, the siege was continued as a blockade until 3rd of October. The people of Leiden were starving and weak because of diseases and the Spanish almost conquered the city. However, the people of Leiden managed to prevent the conquest on 3rd of October 1574. Liberation of the city also known as Leidens Ontzet or the Relief of Leyden is celebrated vehemently today. William the Silent, Prince of Orange offered a reward to the citizens for their sacrifice for the city. They would either be exempted from paying taxes for a number of years or a university would be established. They chose the university and the University of Leiden had been established in 1575. On 4th of October, the rebels arrived at the city and gave citizens herring (which is in fact raw fish) and white bread. 'Hutspot' was also given on that day which is carrot and onion stew. It is said that  an orphan boy found a cooking pot with hutspot in it left behind by Spanish when they. Today, the cooking pot can be seen in the museum.

enough with the paperwork!

coffee time is anytime!

I have a new bicycle :))