SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

It's been a pretty tough winter for a lot of us, and we're all in need of a bit of mood-boosting, lung filling fresh air and sunshine. Ok, so it's not exactly warm, but at least it's sunny! Going to the playground for the afternoon without getting frostbite is suddenly seeming imaginable. and for those who only moved here in the winter, Leiden begins to come into its own at this time of year! As always, there's plenty going on, so join us.

Bollywood Dancing: for grown ups too!

It just didn't seem fair that the children got to have all the fun, so the wonderful Swati has volunteered to teach the grownups some Bollywood dancing too! Friday March 19 th at the Pancrat Buurthuis, 8-9pm, and we will go for drinks afterwards. It should be a relaxed, fun evening: wear something comfy and give it a go! She has just received her work permit, and so this may well be able to become a regular thing if we all get hooked. Email harriet@homeinleiden.nl if you are interested.

Kids clothes swop

Children will keep growing, won't they? Instead of chucking the outgrown clothes and buying new ones, why not go for the fun, green and thrifty option: swopping! The first new, re-vamped Kids' Clothes Swop, run by Noeleen, will be held at 8pm on 25 th March at the VKC. The new system does not involve swopping closed bags, but is more like a free jumble sale: bring your stuff, lay it out, and then take whatever you need (I think we can do this without violence, don't you?). Please email noeleen@homeinleiden.nl to be put on the mailing list, or just come along with your outgrown clothes.

Textile Festival in Leiden

From the 24 th to the 28 th March there is a Textile Festival in Leiden. There's something for everyone, from workshops to exhibitions to an Arts and Crafts market in the Pieterskerk. See www.textielfestival.nl for details of what's on. Marja (who runs the company www.nordicwool.nl and the knitting group in the VKC) and I are running a textile afternoon at the VKC, with workshops for children and adults: Wednesday 24 March, 14.00-16.00. The workshops include making a crocheted necklace, crocheted flowers, making clothes for your doll/teddy (children can bring their favourite toy and I'll show them how to make it a dress or top) - there's even a plaiting workshop for children as young as 2 ½. Cost: € 2 per workshop, including all materials (but please bring your own crochet needle if you have one!).There will also be an exhibition of all the things we've been making at our knitting group (maybe we'll also have a rogues' gallery for all the things that went wrong, like my sweet baby's rattle that turned into a Giant Killer Mushroom, just to give you a laugh). If anyone would like to lend a hand, please do let me know! See http://www.vkcdespiegeling.nl/textielmidag.html for details.

Gorgeous Café/Deli!

Bocconi Pasta Italia, Burgsteeg 6 (near de Burcht)

I seriously love this place! It is tiny, independent deli and café (open 11-19.30) that has the most gorgeous organic, homemade pasta etc to take away, and which also has a 'bar' (mon-sat 8-16.00, sun 11-16.00) for coffee/paninis/smoothies etc. They use only small-scale producers in Italy, pork from traditional breeds of pigs that roam half wild and only organic wholegrain wheat of a special variety called 'Kamut', which is apparently more nutritious. You can even get 'draught' olive oil. I went there with Evelyn for lunch, and although there weren't any panini (because, bless, the bread wasn't quite ready yet), they had some fresh pizza which we both adored (and they also gave her a bowl of cherry tomatoes, which made her very happy). She also got a cup of hot milk with froth in her own 'grown up' cup, which went down very well. It was such a pleasure to eat somewhere with such a personal, welcoming feel, and where they really went out of the way to be kind and thoughtful to a foodie 4-year old. Plus it was €5 for both of us, so excellent all round.