We went to Leiden in the Netherlands as a hub for a four day trip. Visiting the Keuckenhof near Lisse, the North Sea at Katwijk and the famous Gouda cheese in Gouda. The weather wasn't too agreeable, especially starting thursday, but hey, why again did I buy a weather proofed camera?

The flowers at Keuckenhof were quite impressive, even though I probably would have liked a bit more intellectual "flesh" to the colorful "bones" - a bit more about the history of tulips would have been fun. Oh well, we got orchids and lilies in addition to the tulips instead of education, so at least it was a feast for the eyes.

Gouda itself is a nice little town, and luckily we were there at the cheese market, so we got to see the touristy show. Since it is done by normal people, don't expect a highly tuned professional show. Fun anyway. And we like cheese.

Oh yeah, the sea - we got some in between by visiting Katwijk, where they were actually rebuilding the beach and embankment. Woops. Not something you get to see every day.

Well, the weather didn't really agree with our travel plans to Madeira, so we got far less hikes than we would have wished, but we did get a few in. And we got the wine. And a lovely place to stay - right in a botanical garden.