Leiden, Netherlands, and my Last Day in Europe

I woke up sad.  This day was my last day in Europe.  Also the last day I get to spend with my lovely daughter.  The last 31 days had gone just too fast.  I've seen much, laughed, been overwhelmed at where I was, eaten wonderful food, tried beautiful wines and spent the most amazing month in my daughters company - something that is so special and I shall treasure it for the rest of my life.  What huge memories I have.

I have 24 hours before I fly back to New Zealand so we had to pack as much as we could into that.   So the first thing we did was walk to the supermarket by Anne's apartment.  There were two actually so we went to both.  We picked up breakfast, as well as ingredients for the Dutch dinner that we were having that night at the apartment with Anne's lovely flatmates. 

I was amazed at how cheap things were compared to New Zealand.  I compared prices.  Dairy products were extremely cheap in comparison.  1 euro for butter, which is the equivalence of $2 NZD and we're paying nearly $6 for the same thing.  Cheese.  Dutch cheese is incredible and half the price.  Fresh fruit and veges - also incredibly cheap.  Wholegrain bread - of which we pay $5 here for was only 89c.  That's it - I don't want to come home!

Even non food stuffs were cheap.  Moisturising facewipes - 99c.  $10.29 here in NZ.  I bought some to bring back with me.  I'm using them sparingly.  We picked up some bread rolls, smoked salmon, yoghurt for breakfast, and the ingredients for our dinner that night, then headed back to the flat.  Unpacked then headed out the door - destination Leiden.  Our plan was for an hour or two in Leiden, then head into Amsterdam to the Dam square for a serious shopping spree.  I wanted a pair of boots, and Anne needed boots and jeans.  

We got the train down and arrived about half an hour later.  I was amazed - such a pretty town.  The Netherlands knew it was my last day and turned on glorious weather for me, making up for the terrible weather I had the week before....

Fantastic buildings...  I wish I knew more about this one.  I have looked on google but found nothing.  If anyone has any information about it, please leave a comment.

The canals were gorgeous...

And I found a windmill...  The big windmill in Leiden was undergoing constructions so I wasn't able to get a photo of it.  This one is a replica of the Molen de Put.

Beautiful reflections which meant my camera was working overtime...

Everywhere here were bikes.  On every available wall, bridge, or anything that one could be leaned against.

More reflections...

And reflections in windows even..

At this stage we found a department store and left the gorgeous canals and started shopping.  I found my boots in there.  Which is good, as it means I didn't have to try on another 127 pairs in Amsterdam later that afternoon!

We then found the Citadel of Leiden which was built in 1150.  It was erected on an artificial hill by the citizens of Leiden as a defence against the water of the Rhine.  The city expanded around the fortress and consequently lost its defensive purpose. The city magistrate bought the citadel in 1651 and made it into the park it is today.

At the top of the stairs you walk through the doors into citadel itself, and from there you are able to go up to an upper level to look out over the city...

The upper level has some good views to historic buildings.  This view is to the Heeren and Hoomoed which is the 17th century City Inn and Coach House.  The church behind it is the second parish church of Leiden.  It started out as a simple wooden building in 1314 and expanded  until the 16th century...

Here is the rear view of the orphanage.  (Don't ask me which buidling!!). Orphans supplied labour for the cloth industry in the 17th century.  When demand was high, orphans were imported from other countries!  To the left you see the high storehouses.  Here grain was stored and bread baked for the poor..

The domed church, called Marekerk, was the first Dutch church built specifically for Protestant services.  Until then formerly Catholic churches had been used.   The high chimney is part of the public utility.

Here is the rear of the City Hall. The original Renaissance building burnt to the ground in a huge fire in 1929.  Only the front on the other side survived.

Obscured by the City Hall you see the Pieterskerk.  This church, dedicated to St Peter, supplied the keys in the coat of arms of Leiden as St Peter held the keys to Heaven's gate.

Anne pleased with our shopping spree so far...

From the second level..

Back into Leiden, we headed back to the train station to catch a train t Amsterdam to finish our shopping.

We never got there though.  Instead we found some shoe shops and jeans shops in the centre of Leiden.  Actually it was a really really nice shopping centre.  We found some beautiful boots for Anne, then found a Jeans shop and bought some Jeans and a couple of tops for her, and a winter top for me, which was on special.  Loaded down with bags, we decided to go back to the apartment, to drop off the bags then head into Amsterdam by tram quickly for Anne to get her hair trimmed.  I waited at the tram stop while Anne dropped the bags home - it wasn't far, but it enabled me to rest my foot for 5-10 minutes.

We stopped one stop short of the Dam, and Anne rushed down to get her hair done.  I stopped to take some photos so told her I would catch up with her...  The sun was beginning to set so it once again was really pretty.  This is the Prinsengracht Canal.

Just over the road from the canal above is the big Westerkerk.  A prostestant church built in 1620 to 1631.  The spire, called the Westertoren (Western Tower), is the highest in Amsterdam at 85 metres.  Rembrandt was buried here in 1669, the exact location is unknown but it is presumed he is somewhere along the northern wall.  Just behind the church is Anne Frank House which I visited the week before.

We then caught the tram to Anne's work and visited a few more shops, tried some cheese, and bought a lotto ticket.  Then caught the tram back to the apartment to get ready for my first dinner comprising of Dutch food.  

Copious amounts of wine was drunk and lots of laughs.  The company was excellent and the food was divine!  Anne's flatmates are lovely. From left to right are Anne, Werner, Angelie and Serieke.

And crazy.  Did I mention crazy?  (I have a dozen more crazy shots too of which I will take bribes to post them up here or not post them up here! - The highest bidder will win !!! )

Such a gentleman - a single rose...  (if I was only younger!) - he did look a tad nervous!

A sausage?  I haven't been offered one of these for such a long time!  In fact, I don't ever recall being offered one quite like this before!!!

Then someone was experimenting with my camera.  I quite like what they took...

After playing cards, drinking wine, laughing, I attempted to pack my bags for the 2nd time trying to fit eveyrthing in!  I really really didn't want to leave.

The next morning, as Anne had to go to work, even though my flight wasn't til midday, it was decided she would drop me off at the airport at around 8.00 then head to work.  I would wander round the duty free and use my computer in the airport lounge while waiting for the plane.  It was really really hard saying goodbye, even though I knew I would see Anne in six weeks in NZ for xmas.  I simply wasn't really ready to go home.

My plane ended up being delayed for 5 hours so instead of sitting around in the airport for 2-3 hours, it was more like 7 hours.  Rather annoying.  Which meant it as highly possible I had missed my connecting flight in Malaysia.  Fortunately (or unfortunately - I haven't decided which yet), they held the plane in Malaysia so it was straight off one plane, and onto the next to fly to NZ.  Which meant 22 hours of sitting down straight plus 7 hours of sitting round airports.  Instead of getting in at midnight it was 2am!!  And yes - I was exhausted.  I am still hankering after Europe.  It's highly addictive.  We HAVE to win lotto so I can visit again!

Trencin - Slovakia

Ahhhhhh Slovakia - you are beautiful!   We studied the route where we were going today and the times involved while drinking our champagne the night before.  Originally we were going to go to Trnava then Trencin on our way to Prague, but we soon realised we had 5 hours of driving from Bratislava to Prague.  We made the decision to only go to Trencin which is one hour away, then another four hours to Prague where we had to catch our plane back to the Netherlands at 3.30pm.  So Trnava we will have to come back to you another time! 

To fit Trencin in we were up at 6.30am, checked out and on the road by 7.00am, just as the sun was just coming up.  We arrived at Trencin at 8.00 and parked the car just behind the town square.  The ticket machine ate all our money, but didn't issue a ticket, so Anne went off in search of an ATM while I wandered around the square.  I found this great fountain (turned off for winter), of a man in a top hat climing out of a well.  It was rather intriguing, and have since found that it relates to the legend of the Vodnik.  However the only google reference of the legend I can find is from Prague...

'The Vodniks are the elf of the waters, creatures with a green body. Some of them live under the Moldau. Usually they are nice people but don’t get them angry because they are very touchy. Sometimes they have fun turning over the boats of lovers or fishermen but they also have the noble duty of preserving the souls of people who die in the floods of the river.

A vodnik used to live in a pond out of the city and moved later to Prague under the Charles Bridge because the wheels of a wagon had made turbid the waters of his previous home. On his way to Prague he met a merchant who was telling him about the pond and the dirt water. This man had idea he was talking to the vodnik from that pond…. The following day the wagon had to pass by the bridge so it was a good chance for the vodnik to revenge. The cry of the merchant was useless and he got caught in the floods of the river. A hat and a rose stolen near the pond the day before were the only things left about this merchant.'

After finally getting a ticket from another machine to display in our car we started heading for the castle high up above the township. We found a local bakery on the way and got some breakfast.  Very yum and very cheap.  We munched on the way up.  And up.  First up 92 stairs, to the start of the path up to the castle...

To rest, I occasionally stopped to take photos!  It was the only way I could reach the top. Anne was miles ahead of me!

Beautiful views on a stunning autumn day!

Number 19.  (Are there 19 castles?)

Old doors...

Still going up and through archways... (I think Anne is already inside the castle! )

And up....

Another stop to take photos of the beautiful view of the city down below...

The river Vah flows through it.  The population of Trencin is approx 56,000.

Oh look!  Finally I'm at the castle door.  I found Anne sitting on a seat waiting for me just inside!

A sign about the the Rotunda of the castle dating back to the 11th Century.  None of my photos turned out of the Rotunda which was behind glass and the glass was too reflective! However this is the oldest part of the castle.

The courtyard.  I try to imagine a typical day sometime in the 11th century with castle staff wandering around here! The Trenčín castle, experienced not only war and terror, but also hosted kings and queens from almost all over Europe.

The Matus Tower...  was built by the family Matus Cak of Trencin sometime in the 14th century.  It is extremely well preserved.  Later on, gothic palaces were joined to the tower.  These are: the Matus palace (that was later destroyed); the Lodovit palace; the Barbara palace and the Zapolsky palace.  If you're interesting in reading more about the history of Trencin Castle - you can find it all here.

I should explain here that we had a guide of which we paid 4 euros for, and which included a tour of the 2nd floor of the 'palace' and the Matus Tower.  I wasn't aware of what just what was involved until I got up to the palace.  I managed to survive the walk up to the top of the castle, and even up the steps of the 2nd floor of the Palace.  But then I had to walk up 5 floors of medieval steps to the top of the Tower.  Now that killed me!

A view from the steps of the palace of the soccer stadium down below...

Birds eye veiw of the town...

Going up...

At the top of the Matus Tower were incredible views over the city.  It was still early morning, and there was fog about too.

Way up high - I can't believe I made it..

Autumn over the castle grounds...

I took a few photos, then realised that if I didn't start down before everyone else, I would be holding everyone up.  So I started down again almost immediately.  I left a good 10 minutes before everyone else, yet we all arrived at the bottom at the same time. Mind you, I did stop a few times to catch my breath and take some more photos...

Old ropes down the wall for me to hold onto...  (I had to come down these stairs backwards in parts as they were pretty steep)

The tower from the bottom...

Anne looking at the view.  I kept this photo because of the pigeon flying above!!

At the top of the steps to the entrance of the 2nd floor palace.  It was a museum inside with old weapons on display.

On our way down again...

Back out the castle door...

A watch tower...

Through the archways...

A leftover ruin from a castle that has seen better days...

Back down the way we came...

Down towards the 92 steps....

Old castle walls with lots of pigeons...

I swear the building smiled at me as I left.  Are those two eyes and a nose?

We reached the bottom and I could barely walk.  I was so much in pain.   Not only my foot but my back as well.  Anne rushed in and got me some stronger painkillers while I went to the car to collapse!  On the way I found this sculpture outside the Pardon Newspaper office.  I thought it was quite clever!

We then drove four hours to Prague airport through gorgeous countryside and little towns and villages.  We arrived around 2.00 and wondered if our plane would even take off as there was thick fog all over Prague.  No problems though, and we got back to Amsterdam around 8pm.  Unpacked and hit the sack early!