Trying to recover from jetlag and Europe trip withdrawal.

I love quaint little towns in Europe like Ghent in Belgium and Leiden in Netherlands. Especially those where not many people visit or know about because it is more quiet. Leiden is one of them.

Next time if i were to go to Europe , im gonna stop by the little towns via train.

Here is Leiden in Netherlands.

We took a train from our home base in Rotterdam Central to Leiden and it only about 20 minutes.

Leiden is famous for tulips in Spring. You can see tulips fields in Leiden during Spring. The canals are beautiful and you can rent a boat where you can have lunch , picnic and chill out with your partner. But you need to have a license. Oppa holds a license to operate ships/vessels because he was a 2nd officer on a ship back in Korea. We wanted to rent a boat but we ran out of time and have to continue our journey to Amsterdam.

 

Weather was perfect for ice cream. Not too hot and not too cold.

Bubble gum chocolate mint ice cream cone at on only EUR 1.25 . Soo yummy !

We walked along the canels where there is the weekend farmers’ market.

The architetures in this little town are so beautiful and traditional.

This stall sells the famous raw Dutch brined herring. Like sashimi , it is raw and you just gulp the whole fish down.

You definitely have to try this if you are in Netherlands. One of their famous traditional food.

We ate it the traditional Dutch way .

It was freshly prepared. This stall is so popular that the owner just kept scaling and removing the bones for his customers. Once he is done , he just pass you the fish on the plate where you drizzle it with onions and just pop the whole thing into your mouth.

OMG IT IS SO FRESH and YUMMY !

We had 4-5 of them.

Just tooo fresh ! Everything done on the spot and you just eat it all raw.

See that pail of fresh Dutch Herring fish ?

We just stood at the side of the stall and ordered one after another. I prefer this than Japanese sashimi.

Yes , it is raw and soo tender. The skin , bones and head were removed on the spot after you place your order.

The locals standing beside us taught us how to eat the Dutch way. Which is to hold the fish high up and just put the whole thing into your mouth and chew.

Both of us really enjoyed it. The Dutch were kinda amused and amazed how we “dare” to eat this raw fish and  how we kept ordering for more. Probably because this is a small town and they don’t see alot of tourists here except locals. So the locals were very kind and helpful teaching us how to eat it the Dutch way. It cost only EUR 1.75 per fish.

After our Herring fishes , we walked along the canels and shopping street at Haarleemstraat.

Hongkong cuisines are quite popular here. You can see some Hongkong immigrants opening restaurants here.

Rent a boat and enjoy a picnic or twosome time with your love one. So niceee !

  

The Herring fishes really make us soo full and bloated that we decided to just go for street food as our lunch.

Fried mussels and shrimps with mayo. Soo nice ! I can have lots of it. Only Eur 3.

I love farmers’ market. A place where you can find fresh seafood , cheese , breads , flowers , vegetables , candies etc etc.

  

Ahh i should have went to Haarlem , Delft , Den Haag and Maastricht by myself when D was at work. But i have to work in the day and can only travel from Fri to Sun . Maastricht will definitely be on my list if i were to go to Europe. And Bruges in Belgium too ! These are beautiful towns.

Being in Netherlands for 3 weeks and just got to know how to read Dutch menus because in places like Leiden , Rotterdam and some other towns/cities,  you can’t really find menus in English though Dutch all speaks really good and fluent English. And i just got to learn how to pronounce the words.

Broodjes means sandwich

Kip means Chicken

Garnalen means Shrimps

Bier means Beer

Frites means Fries

Welkom means Welcome

Dank Je Wel means Thank you

Goede Morgen means Good morning

Zeer Bedankt means Thank you very much

There are many more and as time goes by , i can read abit of basic Dutch menu. Some are pretty similar to English.

Ahhh i wish i can turn back time and start my trip all over again.