Sunday May 31st, 2009. A key reason we needed to meet up with Rudolph right away was to snag the Spring Tour tickets he so graciously picked up for us. They would expire after Monday and we wanted to use them for the long haul to Friesland. So we set out for the train station Sunday morning and inquired how to arrive at Sneek. We were informed to take a connection to Leeuwarden through Amersfoort, but somehow we wound up in Groningen (Rudolph would soon teach us that they can print out an itinerary for you right at the station).
This was no problem as we just caught a different train to Leeuwarden, and our brief layover afforded the first chance to utilize a ‘pay to pee’ lavatory. You drop 50 cents (euro cents) onto a plate to gain access to the toilets at the station. The one in Groningen was kept spotless by attendants manning either gender’s facilities, though the few subsequent potty visits would never get close to this good experience.
The last leg to Sneek from Leeuwarden was on a ‘stoptrain’, or one that sets down at every single station along the way (i.e., the ones you avoid unless you need them to reach your final destination). Though tedious, the distance was not great and about a half hour later we arrived at Kim’s ancestral homeland. The ride was pretty, passing through a landscape of flat, marshy fields inhabited by cows, sheep and (surprisingly) quite a few horses that resembled dark Clydesdales. Another tidbit Rudolph would later share was that these were Frisian horses, a graceful breed famous in Europe.
Sneek is a pretty village crisscrossed by canals. Our first exposure to a rural Dutch town, we were charmed by the narrow houses lining the canals, each boasting a lovely and well maintained garden. We got our bearings and headed towards the Waterspoort (water gate), the best known landmark of the village. I loved Kim’s smile as we trooped about, she was clearly gleeful to be ‘back home’.
Home again for the first time
After enjoying the Waterspoort we sought out a lunch spot, but virtually everything was closed on Sunday. No retail stores were open and the only restaurant near the Waterspoort that was open was Fried Chicken (isn’t that inviting?), where we nabbed a couple haring (herring) sandwiches. Though tasty, mine would have benefited from some mustard and there weren’t any condiments on the table or at a separate station. I was amused when I saw on the menu that you had to pay extra for mustard, even for ketchup!
Waterspoort in Sneek
We schlepped about a bit more, but with everything closed it wasn’t very exciting. We did come across a small cluster of eateries that were open for business on our return to the station and splurged on some frites: french fries you can get served with mayonnaise. Kim and I both swore this was the first and last time we would ever nosh on this tasty treat – Dutch clogs, yes, clogged arteries, no! But dang they were good.
The Dam Computer shop was closed too…
Back at the station we sat in the sun and awaited the next stoptrain (only one per hour on Sundays so we had to wait a bit), but it was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. When we returned to Leeuwarden we opted to hop off and explore a bit. Like Sneek, however, everything was closed despite there being plenty of folks walking, biking or sitting outside. At one intersection Kim noted we were at Mata Hariplein (Mata Hari Square) and we scouted around for a statue or any more tangible evidence that Leeuwarden was the home of the famed WWI spy. We didn’t find anything and soon hiked back to the station.
This time we stayed aboard the entire way back to Amsterdam’s Centraal Station in the heart of downtown. Talk about night and day, everything was open here. But our first impression was not entirely favorable because it seemed to be a throbbing mass of humanity plodding about an endless succession of trash and trinket shops. We did find a nice spot for dinner, an Italian restaurant named November, where the food was only passable, but Kim had an excellent flight of wine (a Veltliner from Austria, a French Merlot and desert wine that went well with her cheese plate for dessert).
The entertainment was grand though. November is a couple doors down from a coffee shop and there was a dude sitting alone at a wee table in front of the coffee shop, contentedly grinning while puffing his way through three enormous joints as we enjoyed dinner. We thought he must have lived above the shop and just floated home after his session…
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