Tuesday into London..

As we hadn't picked up our car yet, Tony was keen that we go into London to explore.  We decided that with the weather forecasting quite a bit of rain, we would go to Covent Garden first to look around and then head to the  National Gallery, & depending on time maybe  get to the  Photographic Museum.   Well it was raining pretty steadily as we made our way to covent garden. (We had not expected it to be so wet & cold, although we had gone prepared.) We wandered around with a woman singing Puccini in the background. The acoustics are amazing there & it is a wonderful opportunity for individuals or groups to have a ready made audience.   We decided to have coffee & scones in Whittards Tea & coffee shop.  From there we made plans to walk to the Gallery together then I would meet up with Tony.  Meanwhile I scurried to one of my favourite shops 'The Cloth House'. 

It was so good to have my walking GPS. Easy to find & walking in the door I just stood & soaked in the smell & visual effects of these gorgeous fabrics. It is still set up like an old haberdashery store, in a very old building with old wide wooden floor boards, wooden shelving & one wooden table for cutting on. Bargains are in the basement. I quickly found the few fabrics I wanted along with Indigo Dye blocks (these they don't send to Australia).  I scurried away very happy, past many other fabric shops. This lane way of shops is frequented by many clothing and design Students. 

On the way to the London .. 

You know you are in London when you see the Red Double Decker Bus  

At the National Museum London .. 

It never ceases to amaze me, the incredible detail & light in the paintings done several hundred years ago. 

Crossing the Thames towards the South Bank & close to the London eye.  

Lunch on the South Bank at a favourite cafe 'Le Pain Quotidien'

As it was a very late lunch, it was a lovely finish to the day before heading home in the underground.  

Train to London

After such a lovely day on Saturday we were feeling a touch sad that our time in Holland was finishing BUT we were gearing to our next adventure once we hit London.  We were packed & ready Sunday morning as the owner of the houseboat Jacqueline was picking us up, to take us to the train station.   It turned out that Jacueline was part of a band that perforned on Sunday's at one of the Museums just near the station. 

We boarded the first of the 4 trains to get us into London. Each transfer went smoothly & with a small break inbetween each stop.  Brussels was the one stop that had the least security men around - interesting. Then as we passed through the station at Calais, France it was like a prison ... barb wire everywhere with army patrol men with guns ready ... When we got into St Pancreas Station in the UK, we were fortunate that the Piccadilly Line that we needed to use was working.  Off to Hatton Cross where Tony's Aunt Val was picking us up, as we are staying with her.  Val's home is the perfect base as she is in Staines, close to the Airport & Trains. It is also easy to drive out from there to the places we plan on visiting in the U.K.  

Quick view from the train just before Calais Station. 

Val's dear little home - Her parents left this to her as she has never married & so she has lived here for 70 years & at 81 yrs still drives & has an active life.  

Monday was our planning & organising day ... towards the end of the day, Tony & I walked to the end of Val's street where there is a lovely 'Common'.  It is privately owned but open for the public to walk on. The stile is provided to get into the field ...

This Cow was so relaxed as were the others in the field & were used to people walking close to them.  

Once through the field - we walked past this lovely chapel with a grave yard that was for Staines.  One might think it is morbid but the gardens around it were beautiful & immediately beside this area was the gardening commons  - where residents have their gardening plots. 

Just love the Ivy growing up the walls & around the windows ..

Gardening Plots

These old gates make you want to go through & see what is the other side .. this was next to the old chapel.  

Back through the common home & joined by a little boy, his Mum & 3 little dogs ...

Our Last Day in Leiden

We had been wondering whether to go to some other places but in the end decided to spend another day exploring Leiden. It is such a delightful & happy place. You constantly see as I mentioned before a gentle intimacy between families, between couples & just the fun of the youth. You are able to cycle any time of the day or night without having to wear helmets.  Many Mums & Dads cycle with their little ones, either with little seats on the front of the bike or a seat at the back & a carry cart attached at the front. This serves for 2 littlelies to sit on the seat along with enough room for the shopping.

We set off into town together & found a lovely spot for coffee (again simple decorating & lots of Cacti - a constant reminder of Opa & his Cacti !!) before we separated as Tony was going to the Museum of Antiquities & I wanted to explore some of the laneways that have old shops .... I was very rewarded in my exploring. Tony & I  agreed to a time & place to meet for lunch.

I don't know the last time I have walked so much as on this trip so far, but it certainly means you get to see a lot more & discover out of the way places that being on a guided tour doesn't always allow you to see.  Old things are still loved & valued here & often incorporated into decorating amidst the modern redecorating.  

I found a number of long narrow shops full to the brim of old things. Also lots of bookshops - again jammed packed with shelves housing books from the floor to the ceiling.  Amidst these shops were the sweetest little boutique shops where often the owners were using them as their studio as well.  Art shops would double as class painting studios.  One vintage shop used the things she had for sale as small viginettes of decorating ... 

We met for lunch at our favourite Italian Bistro (when I was googling for something else before leaving home I had seen this Bistro but didn't think we would actually get to it) that is part of the City Hall.  We then went off together to explore the city citadel which gave views across the city. More importantly that today was Music Festival day especially with Pianos. So Pianos were dotted around the city for pianists to play including young people to be able to give them an audience ....it was very toe tapping music. The evening lends itself more to Adults.  After this we walked behind the Citadel & between the Cathederal whereupon it was all art/studio laneways. 

Tony discovered an old book/print shop so I left him a for short time & indulged in a shop that was an old house & went from one street through to the next.  It was a wonder the owner knew what he had as it appeared he bought up anything from very old estates some things going back to the 1700's.   I know, no room in the suitcases. I would really need to come in a specific trip ...

We wandered home together knowing we needed to pack & sort things for Sunday for the train trip to the UK.  It was a tinge of sadness as we realised our time here on the houseboat in Leiden was finishing.  We had had the best time with so much of the culture resonating inside both of us & yearning for more. ... 

Goes down well - a morning coffee .. 

Cacti decorating everywhere ... 

The owners cats take pride of place next to the shop model in a creative viginette !!!  

The beginning of the quaint shop full of old wares & antiques.

More of the vintage shop.  

Gorgeous old paintings that are padded underneath to give the curved finish along with a satin seal.  

Again gorgeous old furniture that sits alongside modern pieces in the apartments we saw.  

Just love the fashion & design here as it stirs something within me - the sign - 'BE BOLD' -  not regular..even the window displays draw your attention.  

The sayings speak volumes. Like one of the menu's started off with ' Expect the unexpected'   ... how delightful. 

At the Citadel .. 

At the bottom of the Citadel - this is one sort of baby/parcel carrier attaché to the front of the bike. 

Much happening on the streets during the festival & saw some carrying instruments on their backs on their bikes ...

Inside the antique shop that went from one side of the street to the other ..

Deeper into the shop ... 

This is the middle part of the shop - an open garden cocooned between the two shops ...

Coming back out !!!

Thursday & off to Nijmegen ...

Tony had spent quite a bit of time preparing the roads we were to use to get to Nijmegen. We were going to go to a couple of little villages on the way (Waardenburg & Neerijnen, farming villages, each with a castle). Some of Tony's forefathers lived in these villages, with one working as the head gardener at the Castle which still has a moat around it & is now used as the local Town Hall - where most of the local  government business happens. After exploring these great places we then drove onto Nijmegen.  These two villages were beautiful - they were so clean & attractive with such a gentle pace to life. The main shops such as a butchers, fruit & vegie & clothing shop were not altogether in a Main Street but rather spread out & you happened upon them as you drove around. 

The drive took us straight into Nijmegen & then became the road that our Hotel 'Blue' was on.  Again the beauty struck us in the architecture & feel to the city. You felt you were in the midst of a place of order & beauty.  We took our things into the Hotel which was quite different & lovely. It was an old building but again modern renovations. The complex spread through 3 -4 buildings. We had Dinner & Breakfast in the building 2 doors down.  The weather was perfect for us to go walking & exploring. We discovered the old part of the city very quickly & gained quite a bit of history.  Ambled back to the Hotel to get ready for Dinner.  One thing we noticed was how many dress to go out for dinner whether mid-week or the w/end. We also witnessed a lot more gentle intimacy between couples & families.  Dinner was delicious & as the weather was perfect we were seated outside. The sun doesn't go down till nearly 10 o'clock so it is surprising how long the day stretches out & how much you can do. 

After breakfast we drove off on our way to Huissen a little village on the edge of the Rhine - quite close to the German border. We were able to drove down to the Rhine at a point where a tug /barge spent its day being driven back & forth from one side to the other purposely allowing people to drive their cars onto the tug/barge to be taken to the other side. The Tug was weighted by 3 other boat-size floats being kept moored in the middle of the Rhine. It was exciting to see all that was happening as it seemed to be the spot where Tony's Dad's great, great,great grandfather had managed the waterways of the Rhine around that point. After this we drove into the village itself.  Within 10 minutes we had parked & Tony had stepped into the Museum (amazing timing as it was only open on a Friday from 10-12pm) Tony stepped in around 10.30 & the lady showing people around was so happy when Tony explained what he was looking for & showed her what information he had .... well away they went ... for an hour while I went doing my own exploring. When we met up again Tony had been well rewarded & found information that now allows him to continue the search of the very first Schneider in the family line back to Berlin ... how exciting now to see what will unfold. 

After all this we were to head home (Leiden) to our Houseboat ... we were back in time to drop our car off, for Tony to do his writing up & I went off to explore a few places I hadn't managed to get to before we had left on Thursday morning: we're never too late to fit more in - we showered & walked back into town for Dinner at 8pm - it was a balmy night & so many were out for dinner...... home late after a fun night. 

In the first village.. 

Walking in the first village. 

Constantly lovely scenes.  

The village church.  

Little farm houses on the walk.  

Working windmill.  

The first castle ... 

What a social room for the students ...  inside the castle ..

As we turned to walk away down the driveway from the castle -Tony looked up & saw a stork had made his nest high up on the top of a chopped tree trunk ...

The 2nd Castle with the Moat still around it ..just so picturesque ...this is the one where Jan Schneider Opa's great great grandfather was the head gardener ... 

Gardens near the castle .. 

The foyer of the Hotel that had this coffee area .. 

The lounge.  

This is the little cocktail bar & the picture in the wall is made of lots of little tiles. With the Hotel called 'Blue' this is the theme through out including sea life ..

The Hotel was aglow as we walked back after dinner.  We both loved the atmosphere of this little place as I mentioned it was old but so beautifully restored tastefully & creatively.  

The start of our walk saw a roman walkway overhead - we went to explore ..

It joined onto this Castle very high up in Nijmegen looks out to Germany.  

This lovely old building was part of a fortress.  

The remains of an extremely old church .. 

Part of the old town square.  

Looking through the archways to the Cathedral where we could hear the organ being played . 

These Cathedrals really are amazing feats - we think the pyramids are but these too have taken up to 150 years to build with such craft & skilled workmanship & not the technology of today.  

What  a gorgeous start to the day to be having breakfast in such a light filled room with the theme of shells along the walls ..

My dear man ... a wonderful companion on this journey & the one who has made this all possible.  

Working boats moored on the Rhine .. 

The barge that was taking cars, trucks etc to & from each side of the river. 

This is where George Schneider was in charge of the water ways of the Rhine River many years ago. This is also where the cruise boats go down on the trips from Amsterdam to Budapest ... 

The beatiful gardens as the climate is perfect