Kiwi flies again...: Local pleasures...

Yesterday reminded me of something I know so well - that the best things when travelling (and probably in life generally) are the small, often unanticipated pleasures.

So I had a local day - returning to Voorburg which I had enjoyed so much last year, and making a new discovery in Rijswijk. A short bus ride takes me to Voorburg's old village centre, a lovely street lined with shops and reserved for bikes and pedestrians. I sat outside with a coffee and talked with a man who works in the flower market in Leiden. He described the scale of the market, the auctions, his disgruntlement at the increase in management salaries while workers are restricted to 1% increases... Meanwhile local ladies bike past with their shopping, young mums gather with their children and the elderly are out in their mobile scooters.

Just beyond the old main street is Constantijn Huygens 'Hofwijck' which I visited and wrote about last year. I returned for a nostalgic glimpse. Who couldn't be delighted with this...

Once it was Huygen's country retreat. Now it is hemmed in by busy roads and a monstrously ugly train station. The camera, however, can lie!

I came back to Rijswijk and the local village centre (less than five minutes walk from Merel and Lauren's) which remains my favourite place. Last year Museum Rijswijk was closed for refurbishment. Yesterday it was open and I went in, totally unprepared for such a delight. Part of it is housed in a stately old mansion dating from around 1790.

A new addition offers a modern exhibition space, library and cafe with a lovely garden. The current exhibition is the Rijswijk Museum Textile Biennial - featuring about 20 international textile artists. The work is spread through both the old house and new exhibition areas, making for some really exciting juxtapositions. Stunning - with some really clever social commentary.