Our next home in the Netherlands, after Hillegom in the flower-growing area of the country, was a little town near Leiden called Leiderdorp. It lies between Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Leiderdorp is surrounded by farmlands and canals and an easy walk or bike ride to restaurants and shops. Spike and I walked to a small “mall” called Winkelhof often and shopped and ate tea and scones. Spike lying under the table and waiting outside the grocery store with a small gang of other neighborhood dogs. A most congenial and completely dog-friendly spot.
Every morning our walk would take us along the canals and farmlands. Always something of interest beneath the ubiquitous churning windmills that characterize the Dutch landscape.
Our favorite restaurants there were Restaurant De Chinese Muur, La Palazinna and Rhodos Grieks Restaurant. Towards the end of the evening at La Palazinna the owners used to let their dog come downstairs into the restaurant and he and Spike would run around the place together.
Something I will never forget is Spike’s extreme hatred of the mailman in Leiderdorp. We would come home and find mail shredded in the hallway where the mail had been dropped through the front door. One day Spike clearly thought he had put up with enough of the mailman dropping things through the front door and he launched, cannon ball-like, straight through the large window in front of the house. Imagine the horror of the mailman!!! We got a frantic call from neighbors who had called the “Dierenambulance” (animal ambulance) but had not been able to find our boy. We raced home and found him, uninjured, in the wooded area a short distance from our house. The memory always brings a smile.
Thoughts and Things
Walking the dog has been a part of my day for decades. Different dogs and different routes over the years. Sometimes a chore, other times a pleasure. One tends to follow the same path every time but it’s good for everyone to change it up from time to time. Our daily (morning and evening) walk in Leiderdorp along the canal and down into the farmlands is one of my most favorite memories. I am hard-pressed to imagine a more dog-friendly country to live in than The Netherlands.