A Loop of Leiden (29/08)

A 9km cycle into Leiden left me with enough energy for a city walking tour of my own making, with the help of a free handout. Incidentally not the formal tourist walking tour called the ‘Leiden Loop’. I started at one of the many mills in Leiden, purely because it was near the tourist information, but it seemed perfect since I soon passed by the Leiden Schouwberg theatre and the Lakenhal before reaching the first Protestant and the first Catholic churches to be built in Leiden. Edging further into the centre of the town I then spotted the Waag weigh house and the City Hall. The latter lead me nicely along a canal adorned with market stalls- as seems to always be the case! Feeling a little bit like I was in Camden I then turned down a small street called Pieterskwartier, famous in the area for its little boutiques and cafes, which was neatly rounded off by the Pieters church and Gravensteen, a former ancient prison now used by the university.

The university itself was not too far away and even so it was hard to miss the great migration of trendy looking youths with name badges heading in that direction. As I sat on the university’s adjacent park I scanned some of their nervous-looking faces and rather enjoyed guessing what they might be studying or where they may have come from, picturing myself in their shoes. After my rest, on my way back to my bike, I climbed up the many steps to reach the town’s medieval castle (De Burcht) in order to see all that I had seen at ground level from on high. The view was certainly worth the climb, in particular that of the Gothic highland church nearby. From that vantage point, pretty typical of a Dutch town, Leiden’s area in square miles seemed small but its population density and places of interest seemed anything but. As proven by this staggering house (photo above) which didn’t even make it into any of the tourist leaflets! I will be coming back to Leiden for sure.