Sunny Haarlem

Well, today with M back in school, I returned to Haarlem. I quite like it there. It is friendly and interesting, and old and hard on the feet. Okay, I didn't like that part so much. My battery on the pedometer was going so I know that I made 4.98 km but I couldn't see the steps. Since then, and with a new battery, I'm at 2456 steps. I'll let you know later what the final is....we are going back to try the rijstaffle tonight, since for various reasons, it didn't work out yesterday.

In Haarlem, I poked around a lot of stores, but bought little. However, I really wanted to see the Corrie ten Boom museum. This is a lady that my grandmother talked about and introduced me to through a book called The Hiding Place. Tomorrow I'll add links to all that, but in this internet cafe at the hotel, ti is too expensive to do. As it turned out, I had a private tour of the museum, and my purchases included a newer copy of the book (as it is getting ahrder to find), and a copy of the dvd (because I really liked it).

This story is the other side of Anne Frank. These people had a lovely comfortable home, in a fashionable district of Haarlem. Corrie was the first female watchmaker in the Netherlands, and was a key player in the Dutch Resistance during the war. As I mentioned on the Anne Frank museum post, I was sure that this hiding place would be much smaller and indeed it was. In fact, this hiding place was the size of my closet in my bedroom at home...and in that place, for example, six people stayed for four days without food or water, and barely daring to breathe. The tenBooms had been betrayed, and while it was known there were people hidden there, they could not be found. They looked in the attic and under the floor--but the man who built the hiding place had the foresight to place bricks further down than the floor line, and that is the reason they were saved. I was shown the window that they eventually escaped out of....and let me tell you how very steep it was from that angle.

I can't possibly fit it all in here (again, expensive place, lack of time) but IO will try to do a longer post later.

And now, I just saw M get back--so it's off to ristaffle for me!

Oh, and why is it called Sunny Haarlem? Today for the first day since our visit, the sun actually shone most of the day. It was darned windy but still...sun!!

Don't ask me how I know!

There can easily be a thousand or more in one spot.
They are long or tall or fold down to a briefcase size.
They come in every imaginable colour, including rust.
They have their own traffic lights.
They are the means to carrying everything from animals and children to flowers to kitchen tables to paintings (and yes, we have seen each of those!)
They congregate in large groups or line up along the street.
They are everywhere!

They are bikes of every conceivable style---and there isn't a single helmet, pair of padded shorts, gloves, or special shirts with water bottles in sight.

They also have no problem running you down if you get in their lane. No problem at all. Don't ask me how I know.

Haarlem

Well, today we intended to go to Scheveningen-a place I cannot spell, never mind say. But that was before we woke up at 11:00 a.m.!!! Apparently our room is very quiet and dark, and we were very sleepy. However, that rest did us good, and so we decided to take an adventure to Haarlem. The original plan has been shelved until we come back to the area in a week or so.

Haarlem is a city a quick train ride away--just 15 minutes. And I loved it. While M is looking at all the cars, and commenting on most of them, I looked at the cobblestone streets. It amazes me that there are so many bikes and pedestrians and yes, the occasional car too. It's quite something to see, and they all twist and turn, so you can end up in all sorts of places. The Grote Markt (okay, some of you have to forgive my spelling!) was great...Market Day in this great big square. There were so many flowers (20 roses, 3 euro), tulips by the gazillion, everything. It was so pretty. There was also a lot of fabric, and I couldn't help but think that Esther and MomK would like that alone. We bought one little thing there, and then went wondering through some of the other shops too. Our souvenir today were ceramic house numbers, painted with tulips. They are very lovely!

We had lunch today at a cozy little spot that was recommended in one of our tourbooks as a place where the locals gather. That was interesting, and the menu took some work. But we are brave, so when it sounded like mustard soup, we ordered it. It was surprisingly tasty and very rich--a cream soup for sure. It was also a very generous bowl, not so much like the little appetizer size we get at home--and which we were expecting. M ordered a carpaccio sandwich, and I ordered a superbowl salad. Good thing too, since we were able to share everything. Oh, he also had tomato soup, and it came with big huge slabs of chewy bread. And brilliant coffee. It was very welcome at that point, and very very good.

One of the most interesting parts? The non-smoking section. The non-smoking section is one table for two. In fact, that seems to be the way in most places, with just a table, maybe two reserved. Very amusing to us, and so very different from home.

We are back in Amsterdam now, and will soon be going for dinner. It didn't rain at all today but it is a little cooler. Stepcount so far? 14198, (10.64 km). I know that I am going to go back to Haarlem, especially because I want to wander through many more shops (on Monday, most things are closed). In fact, we think that we will meet there on Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll be going to some of the museums and things while M is in school. Then maybe we'll find a recommended place to try a rice table, in honour of DadK.

Till the next time!