Leiden

01

A windmill by the canal

Between Christmas and New Year, I took the train from The Hague to Leiden. It is a small city between larger neighbours, but its stories are not small: the Netherlands' oldest university, Rembrandt's birthplace and the years the Pilgrims spent here before leaving for North America.

Walking from the station towards the old town, I passed a canal with a windmill on the opposite bank. The sky was grey, the trees bare and the sails still. Its reflection seemed just as motionless.

By the time I reached Nieuwe Rijn, the afternoon was already becoming blue-grey dusk. Tall, narrow houses stood along the water, their stepped and curved gables like mismatched book spines. Christmas lights remained in the trees. The canals offered some of Amsterdam's pleasures at a scale that felt easier to wander without a plan.

02

The Christmas market

A small market lined the canal. Waffles, mulled wine and cheese scented the cold air. A pink-lit structure above the water reflected like a melting sweet. I was not entirely sure whether it was a rink or a stage; the colour mattered more than the answer.

In a side street, a souvenir shop sold wooden-shoe magnets and Delft-blue pictures beneath hanging glass lanterns. Next door were handmade earrings shaped like cats, little characters and red mittens. Farther on, a wine shop had filled its window with an entire miniature Christmas village. Warm lights shone through tiny houses above a box of corks. The Dutch can be wonderfully serious about seasonal decoration.

03

The Burcht

Wet paving led me to an archway between small brick towers. Beyond it, decorated gates and steps climbed towards the Burcht. This is less a castle in the usual sense than a ring of walls on an artificial hill, a high point around which the city grew.

At the top, Leiden's roofs spread out below: red, grey and brown, with churches rising among them. There were no towers of glass to interrupt the low skyline. Winter had removed the leaves and opened the view. From up there I could understand the waterways and the curved streets gathering around the hill.

04

After dark

By the time I came down, it was night. Shops lit Haarlemmerstraat and Christmas ornaments hung over the street. Most doors were closed, but warm windows and coloured lights kept the empty pavements from feeling deserted.

On the way back to the station I crossed another canal. A lit stone arch and its reflection made a complete circle. Beyond it, the houses had become silhouettes with glowing windows, their light stretched into long lines on the water.

Leiden is small enough to return from the Burcht to the station without much thought. There is no need to collect a long list of sights. An old town, canals, bicycles and a quiet winter afternoon can be enough.