A nice small alternative to Amsterdam

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A smaller little city north of Amsterdam is Haarlem. Not far at all actually with only fifteen minutes on the train and is perfect for a day trip from Amsterdam but we managed to stay for two nights in the end. It is also a great alternative base than Amsterdam to not only for the tourist to Amsterdam but the locals for the cheaper prices and much quieter streets.

It has all the charm that is expected in a small tourist town but unlucky for us the weather turned bad for the two days we were visiting and constant storms were coming and going. We did still manage to do some walking around the city, no major tourist attractions just small alleys ways and much cleaner dykes that the ones in Amsterdam.

We pretty much took it pretty easy for our time here and spent most of the time with our family hosts who were wonderful for us. A family from Australia with four children having a lifestyle change and have had the best time over the past two years there.

Well not a great deal else to mention except for when Diana went to McDonalds asking for some hash browns…… We quickly found out that they don’t have these in Holland and we think they thought we were after something else.. Quite funny!

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