Delft

We left Leiden this morning, taking the train to Delft.  Delft is most famous for its centuries old hand painted porcelain and it was the home of Vermeer.  Delft has a quaint old city center, with three large churches and city hall.  There are shops with Delft porcelain all about, as well as cheese shops and restaurants.  We enjoyed walking about the canals and reading art cubes scattered about the city, about Vermeer's work. We bought a wheel of gouda cheese to take home. 

Amsterdam

We stayed in Leiden the first two nights in The Netherlands.  Leiden is a university town and has the second largest number of canals, with Amsterdam having the most.  On our second day, we took the train from Leiden to Amsterdam.  A light rain was falling when we arrived, so we took a canal boat ride, to stay dry and see some of the city.  The narration was in several languages and hit the high points of the canal system, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We were struck by how many old houses and buildings were leaning several degrees, yet are very well maintained.  There are 

2500 annual permits for houseboats on the canals of Amsterdam.  All are taken.  

We were also amazed at the number of bicycles everywhere. 

After returning to Leiden in the afternoon, the clouds lifted and we spent time walking about Leiden.  It was a beautiful afternoon with lots of people out and about, most of them riding their bikes!

Keukenhof Gardens

The primary reason for our visit to The Netherlands was to visit Keukenhof Gardens and their annual spring flower show.  Keukenhof Gardens is the largest flower garden in the world, with over 7 million flower bulbs planted annually.  The primary blooming flower is the tulip, actually hundreds of varieties.  We walked the paths of Keukenhof for several hours yesterday, with me oohing and aahing, and Papa mostly following along.  Neither of us have ever seen anything like this!  Beautiful!

Arrival in The Netherlands

We traveled from Split, Croatia to Rotterdam, The Netherlands this morning.  Upon arrival, we took a bus to the train station and bought tickets to go to Leiden.  When we got to the train tracks, we had no idea which train to get on.  I promptly asked a young man standing nearby.  Yiu-wing Wong was also going to Leiden, so we sat with him on the train.  Once we got to Leiden, he asked which hotel we were staying in and he took the time to walk with us, aided by Google map on his phone.  What a nice guy and such a nice welcome to The Netherlands!  Thank you Yiu-wing!

35,000 Teenagers in Dubrovnik

As we were having breakfast a few days ago in Trogir, Emilia, the B and B owner told us about the 2014 Croatian Catholic Youth Conference in Dubrovnik, on the exact same days as our visit!  We went on to Dubrovnik, checking into our hotel, and making our way to the Old City.  When we arrived there were a lot of people on tours, but within an hour they were leaving, as it seems they were from a cruise ship.  We walked around the Old City walls, inside and outside, taking our time and soaking it all in.  By 7 p.m., there was a noticeable influx of young teenagers.  When we got back to the hotel, we were given a notice telling all guests that the streets of Dubrovnik would be 

closed to car traffic the next day, with buses and taxis running free of charge.

We woke up Saturday morning to a light rain.  We needed to do laundry, so we packed a bag and took off for the Old City on a free bus ride, to the only laundromat in town.  The streets and buses were full of teenagers wearing rain ponchos and carrying umbrellas.  There were 35,000 of them!  No kidding!  We did our laundry and returned to the hotel, as rain fell harder in early afternoon.

By 4:30, the rain had stopped and the teenagers were at a concert on the waterfront.  We went back to the Old City and enjoyed over two hours of walking about with very few people.  The recent history of Dubrovnik is really interesting and was difficult for all those living there during the Serbian, Yugoslav, and Montenegrin conflict of 1991-92.  Several homes and businesses have photos posted of the damage suffered, along with celebratory photos of their rebuilding.

By 7:30 p.m., teenagers started to flow back into the Old City, so we made our way back to the hotel.  Along the way, we were joined in the streets by thousands of polite  and happy teenagers.  Once back at the hotel, we asked about traffic on Sunday morning and were told that there were over 600 buses.  We left Dubrovnik soon after breakfast to beat the bus stampede!  We had no problem and left with very fond memories of Dubrovnik and the 35,000 teenagers visiting at the same time.

City Map of Dubrovnik, with the sites of damage in 1991-92, due to Serbian, Yugoslav, and Montenegrin conflict

Dubrovnik

We are in Dubrovnik for two days and the old city is impressive.  We are bowled over at how massive and beautiful the whole of the old walled city is.  We spent two hours walking around the top of the walls, enjoying the views and looking for sites of scenes from movies and tv shows filmed here.  

The weather was perfect and the crowds thinned out as the afternoon became evening. 

Dubrovnik took 2000 direct bomb hits during the Bosnian War of 1991-92.  Most of the tile roofs are new as a result.  Most other damage has been repaired, except for a handful of buildings.  

We were told that the residents moved out for six months, but came back after the war.  

Today, the city is really lived in, with hundreds of steps up and down, laundry hanging between the buildings, and kids playing basketball with the old walls serving as a backstop.  

We have found the people of Croatia to be friendly and helpful.  Dubrovnik has been on our "to see" list for some time and we are enjoying every moment!