tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-164771362011-07-08T03:03:13.114+02:00One long time resident, one newbie discover their town5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-2098074407737279802009-06-16T21:35:00.002+02:002009-06-16T21:37:58.286+02:00

Because of an initiative from Quintus, Leiden this year has its first museum nightSaturday 4 July seven museums can be visited until the wee hours.More information can be found here

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-85679435824762233912009-01-14T14:41:00.006+01:002009-01-14T14:54:21.054+01:00

Looking for a fun and not so ordinary gift for your kids or to give to a newborn? There is a new store on the Lange Mare in Leiden that sells fabulous kids stuff.Fair trade toys (the wolf in the pic won a Belgian award for toys)But also designer lamps for kids rooms.The beauty is they have cute gifts in all price ranges, from as little as € 5,95 for a cuddly toy, but you can easily spend quite a

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-18214324272048033462008-10-11T15:08:00.004+02:002008-10-11T15:15:42.016+02:00

Just look how beautiful Leiden is on a glorious, sunny October day Het PlantsoenHuge tree in het PlantsoenWild mushrooms

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-70872270392405617902008-10-03T12:45:00.002+02:002008-10-03T12:50:27.287+02:00

3 October is a special day for the city of Leiden. Each year marks the anniversary of how the people of Leiden ran the Spaniards, who occupied Leiden, out of town. To mark this occasion the entire city celebrates with music, markets and kermis. And a lot of people (not yours truly) eat 'hutspot' (a mash with potatoes, carrots and onions). The morning of 3 October every citizen of Leiden can have

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-55282550866898650512008-07-12T18:36:00.002+02:002008-07-12T18:40:11.600+02:00

After last night's successful night out at new hot spot Olivier we were curious about the food and decided to have lunch there today. Three words for it.Big, BIG disappointment...Service still quick and friendly, but a wild spinach salad that has regular spinach, none of the promised croutons and lacks all imagination just isn't worth paying 7,50 for.I had feared such already, as their lunch menu

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-66466982433436231232008-07-12T10:24:00.003+02:002008-07-12T10:34:39.024+02:00

Earlier this year a new cafe opened in Leiden, Olivier.In the building where there used to be the former Elisabeth Gasthuis hospital, now a fabulous Belgian beer cafe has emerged. The inside is like a 'bruin cafe'. Outside there is a huge terrace and two places where you can sort of lounge. For any kind of weather, the perfect outside spot right in the middle of town! They have a huge beer menu

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-45368673459645990052008-06-21T15:19:00.003+02:002008-06-21T15:22:34.690+02:00

Orange, orange, orange, everywhere!

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-84458171540329720342008-06-01T12:09:00.003+02:002008-06-01T12:17:52.514+02:00

We've been meaning to go here for a long time and finally made a reservation, for a Portuguese themed night of all nights (we're going to Portugal later this summer on vacation). A perfectly good excuse to familiarize ourselves with the Portuguese kitchen.Restaurant La Diva on Noordeinde 19 in Leiden is a restaurant that (when it's not having a theme night) does 'cuisine du jour'. No menu, you

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-29640500457004017252008-05-12T22:17:00.004+02:002008-05-12T22:26:28.991+02:00

Here are some pictures on Leiden, as seen from the water during a canal cruise this afternoon while taking advantage of the fabulous weather.view across the Oude Rijnthe old 'meelfabriek'Houseboats in the SingelMore boats in the Galgewaterthe Galgewater again

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-59843661854559538512008-03-28T22:18:00.002+01:002008-03-28T22:23:06.653+01:00

We can't seem to get enough of restaurant recommendations (or eat out too much, which ever:-)) but Leiden does have it's fair share of nice places to go.Tonight we went to Tapas En Zo again and I have to say, yet another good food and wine filled evening and in the end being surprised by the check. We nearly OD'ed on tapas (no seriously, how much tapas can a person eat...) had a bottle of wine

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-49256433382859690192008-03-22T17:24:00.002+01:002008-03-22T17:27:28.235+01:00

We haven't been there yet, but I'm intrigued about this new museum that recently opened in Leiden. It's called Corpus and you travel throughout the human body.The Queen opened the museum and that apparently caused quite some attention, because up until 31 March all tickets are sold out!I'll update on what it's like after we've been there.

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-91293763945574450362008-03-20T16:29:00.002+01:002008-03-20T16:35:20.700+01:00

One of my newest favourite shops in Leiden is Skoon Ecodesign, a cute shop on the Hogewoerd, opened in 2007.It sells furniture and interior accessories, but with a twist: all items in the shop are 'clean' (which is also the literal translation of the shop name) - so produced without making use of toxics in glue or coating material, nor can they be made of illegal wood and such. Socially and

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-46830007656556208942008-03-12T14:35:00.002+01:002008-03-12T14:37:44.897+01:00

It has to be said, we were treated to this fab restaurant but I didn't want to withhold the superb food and even better wines we had there last night. Will def be back here one day!Carpaccio of waghyu beef with a truffle vinaigrette3 minute egg with truffleoxtail bouillon (white wine: Bourgogne Chardonnay 2004, France)**skrei fillet with a lobster risotto and spinach with a sauce of Reypenaaer

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-23945086320167616502008-02-08T23:31:00.003+01:002008-02-08T23:52:38.532+01:00

Despite having lived in this city for about 10 years now it's good to see that every now and then there are still some new discoveries to be made. Maybe there's no rush to leave this place after all.The latest restaurant discovery was thanks to some friends of mine who had recently come across a new Thai restaurant: Siesoton in the Doezastraat.It's tiny, maybe five tables all together, and the

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-88592318766160140072008-02-08T23:24:00.000+01:002008-02-08T23:27:55.786+01:00

As I was walking home the other day I passed the RAP office. I always look in through the huge windows as I'm quite curious to know what they do, but except that it's something about architecture I have no clue.I think I definitely need to change that. At the moment they are hosting an exhibition on city maps of Leiden. The exhibition is accompanied by events such as lectures, workshops for kids

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-8666442869781861432008-02-03T15:39:00.001+01:002008-02-03T15:40:04.609+01:00

Looking for a fun night with friends? Do check out J's popquiz2Go!

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-20116778149633847622008-01-13T20:12:00.000+01:002008-01-13T20:13:40.031+01:00

My best friend opened up her own webstore with exclusive and very stylish gifts. Make sure to pay her website a visit if you need an original gift.

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-24441737169953420882007-12-29T12:42:00.001+01:002007-12-29T12:45:31.873+01:00

A few weeks ago I was looking for a good place for dinner. I found Scheltema by accident but I really liked it.Like de Zijlstroom (see a few posts below) it's inside a factory building and completely renovated. Scheltema has a much more industrial look to it though. Lots of greys in the interior, high ceilings etc. Besides the restaurant, it also has a cafe and a theater complex which can be used

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-65664901776315446262007-12-29T12:37:00.000+01:002007-12-29T12:41:28.523+01:00

This post is slightly overdue, as these are pictures of what the city looked like a little over a week ago.

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-61349578310559391572007-12-02T20:06:00.000+01:002007-12-02T20:12:10.731+01:00

Since a couple of months Leiden has a new shop for chocolate addicts "Het Chocolokaal".Last friday me and some girl friends had a chocolate workshop there. O.M.G.!! Put 10 women in a room with two tubs of melted chocolate and you can hear a pin drop!Syl, the owner makes most of her own chocolates and makes special stuff on request as well.Go check it out some time, its on the Botermarkt, right

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-62793345375221814022007-11-11T19:55:00.000+01:002007-11-11T20:03:06.193+01:00

Part of the aim of this blog is to use it as a way of discovering new things in the city. So, a review of a new restaurant.Officially not in Leiden but in Leiderdorp, we had lunch this afternoon at the Zijlstroom. The restaurant opened this summer and is inside a completely renovated old flour factory. The setting and interior are great, with outside a greenhouse, vegetable garden and orchard for

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-737817121876685242007-10-21T17:07:00.000+02:002008-02-08T23:52:38.533+01:00

After yet another fab lunch there, I thought I'd mention Stadslokaal Burgerzaken. Right across from city hall (hence the name) on the Breestraat and always a good place to have great food.They have a lunch menu with a couple of fantastic sandwiches. At the moment there are varieties such as Old Amsterdam cheese * Mackerel * Vitello Tonato * Seranno ham * Lambs ham and a vegetarian one.But they

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-65430933915211883052007-10-01T17:19:00.000+02:002007-10-01T17:24:21.291+02:00

3 October is a special day for the city of Leiden. Each year marks the anniversary of how the people of Leiden ran the Spaniards, who occupied Leiden, out of town.To mark this occasion the entire city celebrates with music, markets, a kermis. And a lot of people (not yours truly) eat 'hutspot' (a mash with potatoes, carrots and onions).The morning of 3 October every citizen of Leiden can have

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-17306545746150284352007-08-06T19:06:00.001+02:002007-08-06T19:13:02.216+02:00

Saturday night I was part of a new initiative, taken by Leiden sculpture Koen de Vries and his wife Mirja. During four summer nights they have cooked for and entertained 10 guests. Ten people that don't know each other, all together for Summer encounters. (website in Dutch)Through a friend of mine I heard of this and we decided to give it a go. The worst that could happen was not liking any of

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-85343277556795383532007-07-29T15:13:00.000+02:002007-07-29T15:18:55.974+02:00

We took a walking tour through Leiden this morning and used the guide "Leiden Loop" (Leidse Loper in Dutch) for it. A tour along the highlights of the city. It can be bought at the VVV (tourist office) and is very worth it. Here are some of the pictures we took along the way.Sion Almshouse (Sion hofje)View of Leiden from bridge at GalgenwaterBridge at Galgenwater

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-27191077199932916362007-07-28T13:30:00.000+02:002007-07-28T13:34:09.278+02:00

One that I recently discovered, but has been in Leiden quite a while. Tucker box.A shop with Australian and British food. Some packed, tinned, in bottles but also lovely fresh sausages and cheddar cheese (the proper one, not that yellow yukky one).They also try to get your wishes, so they were able to get me my Mars Planet a while ago. Just love that shop!At the moment they're in the Hartesteeg,

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-33405842246793938682007-07-27T16:03:00.000+02:002007-07-27T16:06:28.536+02:00

My all time favorite comedian, Jochem Myer, talks in a Dutch tv show called "Korte Lontjes" ("Short fuses") about the nuisances of living in Leiden. A couple of them I can very much relate to, the annoying sea gulls, cycling through the Breestraat. However his passion for peeing in the canals is beyond me ;-)watch the episode (Dutch only)

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-81552692097003239222007-07-25T21:36:00.000+02:002007-07-25T21:55:53.272+02:00

One of the unusual but very cool things of Leiden architecture are the wall poems. Up to now, 101 poems are painted on the walls of buildings througout the city in their original language.Begun in 1992, the project's 101st poem was completed in 2005. They are written in their original language, which is relatively fine if it's something in German like this:But it becomes much more difficult to

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-78049288974232628582007-07-25T21:32:00.000+02:002007-07-25T21:33:51.806+02:00

I just came across this link to a few webcams aimed at what are usually the most crowded outdoor cafes at the Nieuwe Rijn.Thinking about having a beer in the sun? Check here first to see if there's space!

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-45517860274366366102007-07-24T21:25:00.000+02:002007-07-24T21:32:59.581+02:00

Remember my recommendation for a fabulous outdoor cafe?You can't see it in that picture, but the restaurant is in a gate - as you can see in these pictures.

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-77647685693959322902007-07-24T21:11:00.000+02:002007-07-25T21:26:42.869+02:00

Just walking home from a friend's house and I was reminded again how beautiful my town can be. This canal, Herengracht, is one of the most gorgeous streets in the city in my opinion.Pictures are from some time ago but I forgot I had these!

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-79899273364073062252007-06-16T19:50:00.001+02:002007-06-16T20:00:17.420+02:00

Remember that statue I told you about, the one in the Plantsoen park(see post below) There's another one! And hallelujah for Google, it turns out it's a statue by a very famous Dutch writer and sculpture, Jan Wolkers. It's called mother and child in sun hats. It's made in bronze and was placed in the park in 1958. So that means it has been part of Leiden for nearly 50 years!How cool is that to

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-38591986670541501952007-05-07T08:57:00.000+02:002007-05-07T09:03:34.882+02:00

Apparently this statue, that is called the Venus of Leiden and that can be found in "Het Plantsoen" has caused quite a stir in Leiden. We discovered it yesterday evening, on a walk through our neighbourhood.It at first was placed there, without approval by the city council, by a group of artists called the Kunst Uitschot Team . The people around the Plantsoen took offence to it and the statue

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-53595845276775561902007-04-22T19:36:00.000+02:002007-04-22T19:58:34.805+02:00

Recently discovered, but quickly developing into one of my favourite outdoor places in Leiden is de Zijlpoort. Although I've never really been inside, the outdoor part is great for the kind of summery weather that we're having at the moment.It's a little bit out of the city, on the water, and part of an old entrance gate to the city (which is what the name also means). Perfect to be chilling in

5streetsleidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09948896817306208679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-12623774618978269352007-04-12T14:10:00.000+02:002007-04-12T14:22:53.136+02:00

Living in a new city means discovering new favorites. After about 6 months I've found a couple of great shops that of course you need to know about as well. So let's get this blog rollin' again ;-)Favorite bakeryJacobs - located on De Oude RijnFavorite shop for bath productsRituals - located on De Hoogstraat All time favorite place The market on Wednesday and Saturday. There is such a great

Cooksnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1161777202841842352006-10-25T13:44:00.000+02:002006-10-28T16:31:30.295+02:00

It is time for some re-vamping of the Leiden 5 streets blog and the way to do it is by co-authoring it.So, without any further ado, Cookietime will be joining me in discovering Leiden further. This also means that the blog will not limit itself to just five streets anymore but we will be expanding the scope to the rest of the city as well. This partly serves as cookie's introduction to Leiden -

machirudanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1155762689939664402006-08-16T22:52:00.000+02:002006-10-28T16:31:30.197+02:00

One of the best weeks in Leiden is the current one: the second week in August is El Cid.Unfortunately this is one of the first years that I am in Leiden but cannot really participate.It's the introduction week of the city and the university for all new first year students. It's five days of activities, loads of events, excited 18/19-year olds getting to know loads of new people, fraternity/

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1132146617338508562005-11-16T14:08:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:30.101+02:00

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

machirudanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1132007273376391682005-11-14T23:27:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:30.019+02:00

thanks to: this site

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1132007071310818492005-11-14T23:02:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:29.949+02:00

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

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1131897684053269132005-11-13T17:01:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:29.878+02:00

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1131718325819712732005-11-11T14:39:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:29.599+02:00

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

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1130689977111371262005-10-30T17:11:00.000+01:002006-10-28T16:31:29.521+02:00

I am moving into my new house next week. Can't wait!These are some things I'm looking forward to (the proximity to these things, at least): Italian restaurant Sorrento. I haven't been there often myself yet, except for some take out pizza and a dinner with friends a few weeks ago. However, it is surprisingly nice. Very simple interior, with good decent food. Nothing fancy, but that's not

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1128874177473968912005-10-09T17:35:00.000+02:002006-10-28T16:31:29.444+02:00

Let's finally get this blog going for a bit.Although this blog should be about the area of the Hogewoerd and surroundings I'm not technically living there at the moment. Which makes it a bit complicated to actually be writing about this area, but that situation should be corrected in about three weeks.However, maybe it would be nice to have a bit of an introduction of Leiden first.Leiden, yes

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16477136.post-1126122221865337662005-09-07T21:42:00.000+02:002006-10-28T16:31:29.374+02:00

A new blog for a new project.It started off with Five Streets in Sydney. Discovering the five streets that surround your house, and describing it with text and pictures on a blog.This blog has inspired a few more:San FranciscoAmsterdamLjubljanaIn any case, as it appears that I will stay in my current street (but from across the road in a few weeks) this could be a good opportunity to discover the

machirudanoreply@blogger.com0