Caught in the Rain

For two days, it has rained and stormed and rained.  Lightning, thunder, dark clouds, wind.  So I was stuck in my room for most of the time for two days straight. 

When I saw sunshine yesterday, I was more than happy to grab the map I had drawn for a 4-mile walk through Leeuwarden to find some of the more out-of-the way spots I wanted to explore.  Everything was going well until two things happened about the same time.  The rain returned and I realized that I had made a wrong turn and had gone a mile or more in the absolutely wrong direction.  There was nothing to do but trudge back the way I had come and then correct the wrong turn I had made and struggle on home to my hotel.  This was now a six mile hike and the rain was landing on my nose.  I had my trusty new Ralph Lauren hoodie which for some reason does repel rain a bit so I wasn't totally uncomfortable.  But six miles is really too far for my poor old body so I'm exploring by internet today.  Which is fine because it is again a stormy day.

It isn't hard to get lost in Leeuwarden.  The main part of the city is built in a circle and there are rings throughout the city to route traffic into the several streets leading to the ring.  The streets are not always marked with a sign and it's possible to go several blocks before realizing you are not on the street you thought you were on.  Using a particular street is also dependent upon there being a bridge across the many canals and several bridges are under construction right now with detours to the next bridge necessary.  The street names are challenging and also change frequently for no good reason so the directions from Mapquest can look something like this:

Turn left on Zuiderplein
Zuiderplein becomes Zuidergrachswal
Turn Left
Turn slight Right onto Nieuweweg
Take a slight right onto Keizergracht
Turn left onto Oosterkade
Oosterkade becomes Niewekade
Niewekad becomes Amlandshof
Turn right onto Bonifatiusplein

I completed that walk and the only street sign along the way was the one for Nieuweweg.

On the other hand, there are wonderful street signs available such as this one:

And there are lots of maps posted in big plastic cases that look like the ones in the mall that say You Are Here.

The picture also shows an ad for Meekema Beerenburg.  Berenburg is a local liquor that is highly regulated.  Only a few distilleries are permitted to use the term Berenburg, but there are some pretenders who call their brew Berinbourg and Borenburg or in ths case Beerenburg.  It is a grain vodka mixed with herbs that give it the flavors of citrus, lavender, rosemary, cedar and juniper.  The resulting taste causes some confusion and the liquor is often assumed to be gin rather than vodka.  It's said to be an acquired taste but I thought my Sonnema Berenberg, one of the original distillers, quite delicious when I used one of those miniature bottles from my hotel minibar to ward off any evil effects from being caught in the rain.