Well you might visit Leiden in the springtime after checking out all the tulip fields along the coast.  But we didn't do that since it was August.  Yet, here we were parking in the public structure next to the grocery store in the university town of Leiden.

We walked to the Hoogstraat area alternating carrying the backpack with the laptop, the camera, the passports, the wallets.  You know, all the things you'd hate to lose that weigh a ton after you carry them for more than five minutes.  So I worked up a sweaty lather within minutes and didn't recover from it until we sat down for a beer.  Hopefully nobody noticed my perspiration-drenched back in the perfect shape of a North Face backpack.  Note to self: leave all heavy layers of clothing, including jackets, in the car.

Despite the McDonalds smack in the middle of the Hoogstraat, it is an especially idyllic area strewn with waterfront cafes, bikes, and sun-warmed pedestrians.  After lubricating the system, we wandered around some more and took in the local church, the Pieterskerk, too.