heineken pilsners

yesterday, ilana and i left the hague to take in the last of the surrounding areas. in haarlem, we walked around the saturday market and kept buying food. they had these great vietnamese spring rolls. we also had samples of raw salmon from the sushi stand and really good sausage. also ilana finally got to see a windmill. at the de adriaan windmill, we took a tour from a really funny (unintentionally) dutch man, who basically told us the entire history of windmills and demonstrated how they work with models.












we then made our way to leiden, but, by the time we got there, the botanical gardens were already closed. instead, we just meandered through the university and then toward the center, with no map. as we headed back to the train station, we passed a bar playing loud dutch music, where the patrons seemed to be celebrating something special. of course we went in. they were not celebrating, it was an ordinary saturday night.


at rembrandt cafe, we quickly befriended the entire bar. all we kept hearing was, why did you decide to come in here? most people just walk on past. the bar closed at 8pm to the public, but remained open for us and our dutch friends. when coen and his brother, thomas, realized that we had yet to eat real croquets and fricadels, thomas got on his bike and rode to a snackbar to bring us back some. this kindness was seen all night, as ilana and i only spent 3 euros, total. we were also invited to come back this afternoon for a bbq. unfortunately m.c.escher beckons.