Leeuwarden

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Woke after a reasonable sleep on the boat. Had a look around as I hadn't yesterday - pretty standard set-up but a nice idea to have a room dedicated to North Sea wildlife, and in fact you could have gone to a lecture about that during the voyage and then tried to spot whales and dolphins from the outer deck. But I was glad that I rested.

On arrival at IJmuiden port, I got on the transfer bus that took us to Amsterdam central station and after faffing around getting tickets and coffee, I set off for Leeuwarden in Friesland. The train trip took a couple of hours through the flat, green countryside with its canals, wind turbines and herds of Frisian cows.

Was still very tired when I arrived at my hotel in the centre of town, so I slept for a couple of hours. Hotel T'Anker has seen better days and the rooms are basic but fully functional. I was just glad of a comfy bed.

Went out for dinner at around 7 pm - for some reason, I seem to have developed a talent for unwittingly locating myself close to vegan restaurants. A good talent to have, and this one was even on the same street as my hotel. Had an interesting meal that included a filo pie with tofu accompanied by vegetables and rhubarb (!) and then went to explore the town. It's a cute place with lots of old buildings and plenty of quirky details. A mini-Amsterdam with its canals, coffee shops and "entertainment district". I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Tomorrow, I'm going to one of the Waddenzee islands, Terschelling.

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