Cows, cows and more cows

Leeuwarden is a town in the northern part of the Netherlands. M., a friend of mine, (who happens to be German but who I met when she spent some time working in Australia as an au pair) had been studying there for five years or so, and I visited her about three weeks before she packed up to leave.

It is quite different from Amsterdam, which shouldn't be all that surprising. It's in Friesland, which is sort of the Quebec of the Netherlands (or perhaps more like Western Australia, as I don't think there's ever any really serious talk of secession). They have a statue of a cow, Us Mem (there are meant to be some accents and stuff in that name but I don't know where they go - sorry!):



Us Mem is a Friesian cow. Friesland is still the dairy centre of the Netherlands - in fact, its wealth (and it is clearly a wealthy area) is based on the dairy industry. "Us Mem" means "our mother". Makes sense.

We basically wandered around so M. could show me all the tourist sights, including the distillery for the local spirit. The town also has some beautiful gardens:



Plus an idyllic riverside:



A bridge over the river which opens to let the boats through:


And a lovely little old-style tea-house (complete with biscuits and confectionery in jars):


To complete the picture, it even has a leaning tower (Oldehove):