Sorry it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to write what I’ve been up to. I didn’t have a direct internet connection with my laptop till I got to Prague, and then I didn’t have time to write. I’m still in Prague, and actually using Jason’s computer, but whatever… I’m typing this on a word document, which I’ll probably email to myself so that I can get everyone’s email address.
Anyway…. When last we met our fearless travelers (me and Dan), we were preparing to leave London. On Monday, we got up at a decent hour and prepared to go to Luton airport to get an Easyjet flight to Amsterdam. Originally the flight was scheduled for 4:20 pm, so we planned on leaving Dan’s house around noon to give us plenty of time, and to get priority boarding (for the Americans and others who don’t know, Easyjet is a discount airline like Southwest, and you don’t get assigned seats). We got the bus to St Pancras Station, and took the train and shuttle for the airport, arriving about 1:45. Unfortunately, right after we checked in, our flight was delayed a bit—first by about 20 mins, and then eventually up to 2 hours… Of course Dan and I just sat and had a beer while we were waiting, though there were some annoying bits, such as when they announced boarding for our flight at one point. We went to the gate and some flight for Zurich was boarding… The display for our flight then said “Gate closed.” Huh???? Apparently they had just messed up and our plane was not there at all. Oh well.
Anyway, once we finally got on the plane, things started working out a little better (it turned out that it was late because on the last flight the plane was on, a guy had had a heart attack shortly after takeoff, and the plane had had to turn back). Schiphol airport is still just a mall with a runway attached, and everything there works great. Our bags were on the carousel when we arrived, we stopped at the shop to buy some whiskey for Lorraine, and there was a train to Leiden waiting for us when we got to the station, which is underneath the airport. Dan’s comment was, “Do you notice how everything starts working when we hit Holland?”
Of course, our delay gave us some problems with finding food in Holland. That day we arrived was Dan’s actual birthday, and we had planned on going to Woo-Ping, our favorite Chinese restaurant in Leiden. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Lorraine’s, it was after 9 pm, and by the time we got to town, it was after ten, and things were closing. Eventually, Dan’s birthday dinner ended up in McDonald’s (on the Beestenmarkt—the one in the Haarlemmerstraat also closed at ten). Ah, whatever. Lorraine made Dan order everything for us in Dutch, which he managed, and we had some good people-watching there, including a table round booth in which seven 20-year-old Dutch men had squeezed themselves around, despite the fact that there were big open tables available in the middle of the restaurant. Cultural differences!!
After McDonalds, it was a short walk across the square to De Kroeg, which is my favorite pub in Leiden. Dan of course took a liking to the bartender, and Lorraine talked to everyone she could, and we ended up leaving at closing and going back to Lorraine’s place and staying up till 4 a.m. Typical first night in Leiden!!
The next day, Lorraine went to work, and Dan and I went out in search of shoes for me, since TWO pairs of mine had broken in London, and I only had some brown heels left—not good for walking. We walked up and down the Haarlemmerstraat and found nothing, and so decided to stop for a beer at Annie’s, because it was quite hot. After sitting there for half an hour with no service, we got up and went down the street to Einstein’s instead, where we sat all afternoon drinking Witbier and eating cheese. On the way there, I noticed a place called Wolky, which had big comfortable shoes, so at one point I got up and decided to try some on. I ended up with a pair that cost EUR 105 (about $170—OUCH), but they fit and are extremely comfortable and well-made, so I had to bite the bullet. Eventually we made it to Woo-Ping to finally have Dan’s birthday dinner. Originally we had intended to wait for Lorraine, but she was taking the car in for service in The Hague after work, and it took her longer than expected, so after having a bottle of wine, we went ahead and ordered. Dan had a vegetarian Rijsttafel, and I had 
one for omnivores, both of which were DIVINE. The lady at Woo-Ping always remembers Dan, even though he’s only there 1-2 times a year. When we told her it was his birthday, she gave him a teapot as a present, and also a free round of wine (Lorraine had arrived by this point). We stayed until well after closing, but they are always so NICE there…
Okay, this has taken me ages, and other people want to use the computer, so I’ll stop here.
Love, Leslie
Photos from this part of the trip can be seen here.
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