Blogs from Haarlem, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe

1st of two virtual trips to Haarlem with Mark. A medieval city full of so much history, explained so well by Mark as we strolled through pretty narrow cobbled streets and along the Golden Streets with its unique boutiques. Next, the main market square with its imposing church, city hall, museums and much more. Haarlem has many Hofjes (enclosed courtyard gardens), beautiful green spaces tucked away, most dating back to medieval times. The gardens are surrounded by charitable almshouses and were used to house poor, unmarried or widowed women. We passed Corrie ten Boom House - The Hiding Place is a museum dedicated to the resistance fighter Corrie ten Boom. The museum is housed in her former home. We started the tour overlooking the The Spaarne River and the 2nd tour will be a walk and ... read more

Everything comes to an end so our trip and may we say the last one. We had a very good time again but it is getting to costly with travel insurances etc. We celebrated Liz birthday that evening with family in Oudenbos visiting a restaurant called Het Zusje. We have been there once before and was very nice. It is a sort of Tapas place where you can order lots of things to try out. It comes in small portions. There are a few spread out in Holland and is a great success. Next day there were a few tears but than there is always Skype, so not everything is lost. We were also happy to see Ronald & Elly who live in Belgium but very close to Liz brother Hugo. We saw there new home ... read more

Het is al de hele maand juni en dat betekent dat er al een hoop extra vrije dagen zijn geweest de afgelopen weken: de Paashaas is al langs gehuppeld en al een hele tijd weer weg gehuppeld, de Hemel is open gegaan op een donderdag en het was weer een hele Goede Vrijdag. We hebben onze vrijheid gevierd en waren er weer 2 minuten stil van. Pinksteren was wat winderig en soms wat nattig maar ook die traktatie heb ik in ontvangst mogen nemen. Nogmaals dankjewel. Leuk als die vrije dagen zijn, echt op vakantie ben ik nog niet geweest. Er zijn heus leuke uitstapjes geweest dus ik zal zeker niet klagen, dat neemt niet weg dat ik een semi-onverwachte week vrij wel heel erg lekker vind. Even een stapje terug. Begin deze maand heb ik ... read more

KLM treated us very well. 10+ hour flight with good food, not much turbulence, lots of movies and an empty seat next to us. A two minute walk from customs to a bus that was waiting for us. A 20 min. bus ride on a road that only carries buses and has the intersection lights controlled so the bus doesn't stop. Dutch green pea soup for dinner on a chilly evening. Haarlem is like a mini Amsterdam. Neat, quaint but not crowded. Now to get some rest in our cute "little" hotel (a 3 room hotel) and explore a bit tomorrow.... read more

A TB friend gave me a ride to the Haarlem City Gate in his new car. The city gate is an impressive old structure that has several Dutch names including Amsterdamse Poort. This neat City Gate was constructed in 1355 AD when Haarlem was a walled city for defense. Through the years the City of Haarlem was sieged by armies a number of times; with the City Wall (with moat) and the City Gates greatly helping in the defense of the city. Traffic flowed through this City Gate through the 1600s before being rendered obsolete. There were several renovations to the City Gate with the last major renovation in 1985. This is the only remaining City Gate in Haarlem. completed... read more