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!