Day 3 Leiden

Our first stop on Day 3 was the Cruquius – the amazing 19th-century steam pumping station that drained the Haarlemmermeer lake and that’s now a historical mechanical engineering landmark The museum looks at the history of reclaimed land, polders and drainage, as well as current water management techniques in the Netherlands. 

While we were there the Gandalf motored slowly by on its way to meet us in Leiden.  Dom wasn’t feeling well that day so he and Marina stayed on board so we got some good shots of the boat going by.

There were two routes to Leiden – the longer route along the dunes at the shore and the shorter one through the flower fields.  Not much going on in the flower fields but still a very pleasant ride.

We got to Leiden just a little ahead of Gandalf and were just wondering exactly where the boat was going to dock when we spotted them coming down the canal.  They waited for the bridge to open and then immediately after the bridge there was a very small tight basin… the Gandalf had to make a 90 Degree left turn with only a meter fore and aft… it took some fancy maneuvering and stirred up the entire basin but the captain and crew brought it to the dock with no problem.

After dinner Michael gave a line-dancing lesson on the back deck which caused a lot of laughter and antics.