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Article: Leiden's Palette of the Past; Picture This: Cobblestones, Canals and Art Through the Ages
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 27, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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You can leave a main street in Leiden, head down one of the many
tiny, twisting alleys, and emerge a few centuries back in time.
Narrow houses and buildings-hundreds of years old and immaculately
preserved-border cobblestone streets and canals. Windows are edged
with lace and filled with flowers and figurines. You expect
Rembrandt to stroll by, or Jan Steen, preparing his palette. Maybe
William the Silent will ride through, his frock coat waving behind
him.
What takes you through this time odyssey is a feeling that
nothing has changed. It's as if Leiden, a small Dutch city about 25
miles southwest of Amsterdam, has been preserved in a jar for
centuries.
It is a joy just to wander and ...