Here it is, the 27th of June….(I know, I know….I’m 2 weeks behind on this…..patience, I’m working on it.
Today we borrowed the company car for a little road trip to Haarlem, a smaller town near the coastal dunes about 20 kilometers southwest of Amsterdam. The capitol of the Province of North Holland Haarlem has a population of around 150,000, is in the middle of the tulip growing area and bears the nickname of ‘Bloemenstad’ (flower city).
Bisected by the river Spaarne, Haarlem has an amazingly rich history dating to pre-medieval days. If you’re so inclined a pretty good synopsis is available on Wikipedia at: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarlem .
We drove past the Amsterdam Poorte (the only gate remaining from the days that Haarlem was a walled city) and found a place to park on the edge of the city. From there we set off on foot. The morning overcast had cleared, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and everyone was smiling. We could see the towers of the Sint-Bavokerk in the distance above most other buildings and so we chose that as our ‘nav point and target’. 
As we wound our way through the narrow cobblestoned streets we observed the wide canal and noted that the boats thereon were much larger and more obviously seaworthy than those we’d seen thus far in Amsterdam (except on the commercial part of the canals). It turned out that the canal along which we were walking was, indeed, the River Spaarne….OK, now it makes sense.
These boats, themselves, were very interesting in that in addition to being larger and obviously sea-going they were rigged with mast, sail and lee-boards. More properly, I suppose, the boats should be classified as ‘sailing barges’ in that they sport a shallow draft in order to accommodate both the shallow Dutch coastal waters and the canal system. To further enhance their utility and performance in the shallows they are fitted with lee-boards instead of a deep keel or centerboard and to allow them up canals the masts are hinged and can be lowered to near-deck level in order to navigate under bridges.
Most, of course, no longer sail actively. Rather they are used as canal homes and are outfitted quite luxuriously.
Stopped for a snack at a sidewalk café and got a table on what amounts to a ‘traffic island’ in between the bike path and the car path (to call it a street or a road would be misleading). Our table’s location seemed perfectly normal to everyone but us! (but hey….we’re just dumb tourists…..what do we know?) Two beers and an order of nachos (Dutch style…bij oud kaas (with old cheese)) later, our table seemed just fine. 
The beer here, in case I haven’t mentioned it, is by itself sufficient reason to visit. Great taste, clean aftertaste and having a potency ranging from about 7% to as much as 14% or 15% (compared to US beers which run around 5%). I’ve gotta say I like it!
Our wandering took us down streets with charming little side alleys…all decorated to make city living look like country living. There were small churches across the street from adult toy shops….this seems typical in the Netherlands…..I don’t know why. 
We eventually came to the town center at Grote Markt which, that day, was holding a book swap meet. The square probably covers (I’m guessing here) 3 to 4 acres….and was completely taken up by folks buying and selling books in every language and of every genre…..BJ was in heaven!
Grote Markt (central market square) is surrounded by Sint-Bavokirk and the Vleeshaal on one side, Teylers Museum and the Hoofdwacht (the old town hall…dating from perhaps 1250ad) on another and the (newer) Town Hall on the third…..all other empty spaces are occupied by shops and cafes.
We wandered through the booksellers stalls, watched people, scoped out the cool building and stopped to listed to a children’s choir perform by the (newer) Town Hall. BJ wanted to see the inside of the Kirk (church) so we made our way to that side of the square….unfortunately, god wasn’t receiving visitors that morning, (Zondag (Sunday)), and the doors were locked….there was a sign specifying the times we could come and pay to enter … none were on that day….we made note and if the opportunity arises I expect we’ll return.
We continued to circumnavigate the square, found a little museum that had huge cross-stitched works on display…I didn’t quite understand that part, but it was cool to look at nevertheless. We stopped for an ice-cream and then, as the afternoon was getting on, we began our stroll back to the car (anybody remember where we parked?)
A twenty minute drive later we were back home….time for a beer and dinner!
