Netherlands Day 3

Breakfast was delivered on a tray to the kitchen at 8:00am. Jan’s guest who had prebooked the parking left before 9:00 and as the next guest was only due at 18:00 we were able to park on the drive all day without having to pay for the parking. The car was packed and as the forecast had improved with a significant chance of rain only starting after lunch we decided to explore Leiden by bike. We cycled thought the park to the centre and then explored the varying canals and paved streets. Leiden has a rich historic past. Has a famous university, was the home of Rembrandt, boasts several Nobel prize winners including Jan Oort who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. It also has an historic botanical garden. We had lunch in P___D a Greek café. Good coffee and we selected a feta and spinach filo pie each and shared a piece of chocolate and walnut cake. We left just in time as the first spots of rain had just started to fall but we made it back to the car without getting wet. The drive to Alkmaar was uneventful and took about an hour. We stopped at Lidl for provisions in Alkmaar before driving to the accommodation. The Airbnb is a surround by fields and is around 5 miles from the city centre. Fortunately, Kate took us to the door as it would have been difficult to find on our large scale map. We were warmly greeted by Piet who showed us round the room once I had got my large car across the narrow wooden bridge to the property. We were offered a fresh coffee which he brought over with his wife Jettie along with slices of fresh Apple cake. As we enjoyed the cake and coffee they gave us lots of good tourist advice and maps of what to see and do. The only problem is we are not staying long enough to do everything.