Leiden #2 (08/12)

Click here to read about my first trip to Leiden. No 9km cycle this time, rather a simple 5 minute train journey from Sassenheim Station. I’d stayed in Sassenheim (a small village where some of my family live) on the Friday evening with my Mum and sister who were over for the weekend. Seeking some quality time with a sister I hadn't seen in over 4 months we decided to go out for the day. Leiden was an easy option and I was eager to see the place once more. 

I successfully navigated us around most of the places that I had visited back in August and was all too happy to add a spot of Christmas shopping and a lovely bagel at Bagels & Beans to the loop! All along either side of the canal, the Nieuwe Rijn and Vismarkt streets, it was also lovely to see a Saturday market underway. The traditional flower, cheese, bread, fish and fruit stalls were of course dominate but a few stalls selling watches, pet products, clothes and such shared the space. The Christmas tunes from the Dutch street organs* and the presence of my beautiful sister really got me excited for Christmas! Undoubtedly the soft sprinkling, somewhat diminishing layer of snow and icy cold air added to the festive feel but it also turned the clock back, exhibiting the town’s age and the beauty that abides with it.         

* I was fortunate enough to see a whole variety of such organs at a museum in Utrecht, the Spelklok Museum.