Shops!
Just came across this site:
Winkelstad in beeld which lists all shops in the different areas of (I think) a lot of cities. So, this is the listing for the Hogewoerd area (not completely up-to-date unfortunately, I've noticed a few shops listed that have disappeared since).
Clicking through the photo's of the shops (select a shop from the 'kies uw winkel'-menu and click on the arrows) the Hogewoerd really is a pretty varied street. From art- to fishing-supplies, bicycles, tea, Indian & Italian restaurants, water and wine shops and many more. Nice :)
Klaverblad
thanks to:
this site
Tea from the oldest shop in Leiden
Last Saturday I went shopping in one of my new favourite shops in the street: het Klaverblad, a teashop.
It is absolutely tiny and filled from top to bottom with big baskets and buckets of tea and coffee. It turns out not to be just a nice shop, but possibly even the oldest in Leiden.
According to
this site (in Dutch) the shop was first established in 1769. As you can see in the picture above, it has a VOC sign outside on the front. This was the sign that it was officially patented by the United East-Indies Company (is that the proper translation?) to sell their tea.
In the '20s of the 20th century the shop was extended to include a coffeeroaster, but this was closed again in the late 1980s.
I stocked up on some nice teas to fill up my Japanese teatins, but I also need good, fresh coffee for my espressopot - I think that will mean another visit on the weekend! Nice.
Hogewoerd - long & windy
H'woerd fact 1 (I think...)
A friend told me the other day that the Hogewoerd is the oldest street in Leiden.
Apparently it was one of the first entryways into Leiden during the Roman period, as it was relatively high (which would explain the name).
After a bit of Googling I can't really find anything definite about this though...
It's long and a bit windy, with old-fashioned lanterns off the fronts of the houses.
Ah, I think it's time for pictures. Will try to get to that as soon as I have internet access at home!
