Days: 0 - 3
Sept 15-18, 2006
Euros
Conversion rate on
our visit:
$1.27 = €1.00
Haarlem
                                           
       
What We Had
Mostly Sunny
60°s F
Averages
High: 72° F Low: 42° F
 Current Conditions
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Page Index
WOW Moments
•  Bikes! Bikes! and MORE Bikes!
•  Bricks! Bricks! Bricks!
•  Churches!
What We Learned
•  Travel Tips
What We Saw
•  Teyler Museum
•  Ten Boom Museum
•  Tour of the City
Where We Ate
•  Restaurant De Smikkel
•  DeLachende Javaan
•  Wilma & Albert, Steakhouse
Where We Stayed
•  Hotel Joops

  Overview
​


Dawn approaching
the Netherlands


Our pulses quicken as we approached the coast to begin our first travel adventure to Europe. We strained our necks to gaze out the plane's windows at the many resorts along the coast of the Netherlands. As we came in to land at the Amsterdam airport we soared over canals and fields containing neat and compact houses.

We arrived (very tired) from our flight to start what turned out to be a wonderful trip. Staying in Haarlem was a perfect starting location since it was a short train ride to Amsterdam and the train station was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Haarlem gave us a chance to settle in without the hassles of a large city, yet the town had a number of interesting attractions!


Looking down the river


Our first day in the Netherlands was spent seeing the sites of Haarlem. The next day was spent at the Resistance Museum in Amsterdam and meeting our tour group, for the first time, later in the day. Most of our third day was spent with our group in Amsterdam.


St.-Bavokerk




The most notable site in Haarlem was the church located on Grote Market. The St.-Bavokerk church was built in the 13 and 14th century when Haarlem was a major stop along the trade routes through the Netherlands.



We were lucky to arrive on market day.  The Grote Market square was FULL.  What a wonderful introduction to the Netherland and Europe.  We've all seen pictures of Europeon town markets, but to actually be in one... We enjoyed wondering the isles and buying a few treats for later.  How better to spend a portion of our day. 



Ten Boom House


Teyler Museum


The other two sites we visited were the Ten Boom watch shop and museum and the Teyler's Museum. 


Lisa giving our tour introduction


On Saturday we met our tour group and Lisa...our tour diva! She filled us in on details of the tour, we introduced ourselves and briefly described our tour expectations. After the intro we headed out for dinner, as a group, at the DeLachende Javaan Restaurant. It was sort of a buffet of Indonesian dishes served at our table.
  WOW Moments Bikes! Bikes! and MORE Bikes!
Sept. 16, 2006


OK! This one isn't going to seem very Wow to some, but we thought all the bikes in Haarlem (and Amsterdam) are amazing!  At the train station there was a parking ramp as large as any built for cars back home, but this one houses bikes.  THOUSANDS OF THEM!!!  We saw people of all ages and all attire on bikes.  Men in suits, women in dresses, children and senior citizens! Wow...they sure have the bikes!  
  WOW Moments Bricks! Bricks! Bricks!
Sept. 15, 2006


We were overwhelmed by the large number of bricks in Harleem and Amsterdam.  Wow, they are everywhere. Sidewalks, streets, bike paths, and the market square. It's clear that the bricks have been there for hundreds of year, are still going strong and will likely last for hundreds of years more.  Imagine for the moment how long it took to lay the bricks.  Recently, I watched a vidoe where bricks are being laid, automatically, 20 feet wide at the same time.  With this modern machinary it doesn't take long to cover a large area.  But when the bricks we saw were laid it's likely each and every brick was placed down by hand...one at a time!
 
  WOW Moments Churches!
Sept. 15, 2006


Over the next three weeks we were going to get more then our fill of churches.  But imagine our surprise as we rounded a corner for the first time in Haarlem (a wonderful, but sleepy LITTLE town) and saw the Gothis St. Bavo Church!  It's HUGE!  This church is larger then anything we have seen besides the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., in the middle of sleepy little Haarlem.  We found out later that Napoleon used the tower as a lookout post and deeded the tower (not the whole church) to the city in order to take control.  The tower is still owned and maintained by the city even today. Wow!
  What We Learned Travel Tips
Sept. 14, 2006
 

Euros in your pocket - Before we got to Europe, we made sure we had enough Euros to get us through the first day. While we got some Euros at the airport it was reassuring that we didn't HAVE to get them there.

Call home with a credit card - DON'T (I REPEAT...DON'T) even think of using a credit card to make a call from the airport (or probably anywhere else)! A SHORT call to let our son know we had arrived (short since we only left a message) cost over $37!!!

Train Tickets - You are able to purchase train tickets using a credit card in the ticket machine.  Be aware that buying them at home before you MAY be cheaper.

Electricity - For the parts of Europe we were in, you only needed an transformer and the adapter for northern Europe and southern Europe. We also brought a small extension cord that have three outlets on the end. Since the transformed had to be plugged into the wall outlet, the extension cord allowed us to charge multiple things (cameras, palms, etc.) without having them hang from a wall.  UPDATE: most items we used work with 220v as well as 110v.  If this is true (check the underside of your device/cord), you don't need a transformer...much less weight to carry.

Stuff about Haarlem - We learned a lot about Haarlem and the Netherlands from Hans during our post dinner walk (more below).

 
  What We Saw Teyler Museum
Sept. 15, 2006

Teyler's Museum is the oldest museum in the Netherlands, founded in 1778. Pieter Teyler van der Holst (1702-78) was a wealthy cloth and silk dealer interested in the arts and sciences who bequeathed his whole fortune for the building of this museum, which is designed to illustrate the development of art and science. The museum, only the fourth of its kind in Europe (after Oxford, London and Paris), assembled within a relatively brief space of time not only an extensive art collection, with numerous drawings and pictures by early Dutch masters as well as by Michelangelo and Raphael, but also an outstanding collection of scientific instruments, minerals and fossils.
Teyler Museum
Spaarne 16
2011 CH Haarlem, Netherlands
Tel: +31 23 516 0960
      
 
 
  Previous or Next City

   
 
  What We Saw Ten Boom Museum
Sept. 15, 2006
 

One of the most interesting places to visit in Haarlem was the Ten Boom Museum & Watch Shop. They hid both Jews and Dutch resistance fighters in their home during World War II. To insure that the people in hiding would not be found by the Germans the family built a false wall in one of the bedrooms. The created space was a few feet deep, six or seven feet wide, without water or toilet. The entry door was located at the back of the bottom shelf of a small cupboard (pictures below). Four Ten Boom family members gave their lives for their actions. Corrie was the only member to survive. She spent much of the rest of her life speaking about what she saw in the infamous Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and about her religious beliefs. Visit the Corrie Ten Boom web site for details of the story.

Ten Boom
Ten Boom Museum
Barteljorisstraat 19
2011 RA Haarlem, Netherlands
Tel: +31 23 531 0823
         
 
  What We Saw Tour of the City
Sept. 16, 2006

Hans joined us after dinner for a tour of Haarlem. Hans was a native of Haarlem and runs a B&B in town. A good friend of Rick Steves and he has appeared on a number of Rick's TV programs.

Here are some of the things we learned from Hans:
  • Haarlem is considered to be some of the best shopping in the Netherlands. They have laws which protect their downtown, although IKEA has made inroads.
  • Electric power is guaranteed in the Netherlands. Thus the generator near the town square. If power is lost, and a financial loss is suffered by the local businesses the loss must be covered by the power company.
  • Restorations of buildings in the historic areas are 40% covered by the government. Hans pointed out, however, that the added cost due to restoration requirements more then makes up for the subsidy.
  • The brick work in front of many of the businesses identified the type of business inside. For example, the scissors denotes a seamstress shop.
  • If you work for a business for 15 years or more and lose your job, you get 70% of your salary for 2 years.
  • College cost is $1,500/year.
  • Workers each get 25 days paid vacation.
  • There's a tradition dating back to the 1600's that the wealthy of the area supplies housing to people who can't afford it.
  • Most of the families in the Netherlands are single income.
  • The statue in the town square is a person that invented movable type, but "kept it a secret" until Gutenberg invented it a number of years later.
  • Trees are often trimmed so that the sun light on the upper floors of building will not be blocked.
  • The church presently in Haarlem is not the first. This one was started in the 1300's. The bell tower is not really stone. They found that to be too heavy and substituted wood made to look like stone instead.
  • Napoleon deeded over the bell tower (not the whole church) to the city so he could set up a military look-out post. It is still owned by the city today.
  • Haarlem's Town Hall is the oldest town hall in the Netherlands.
  • Haarlem citizens must be married in the town hall (we saw a couple of weddings). They can then have a ceremony in a church.
  • The term stinking rich is said to come from their bodies as they decomposed under the floors of the church (only the rich could afford to be buried there).
 
 
  Where We Ate Restaurant De Smikkel
Sept. 16, 2006
 



Haarlem is noted for its pancakes.  We gave them a try on the first night in Haarlem.
Restaurant De Smikkel
Kruisweg 57
Haarlem, 2011, Netherlands
Tel: 023 532 06 31
   
 
 
  Where We Ate DeLachende Javaan
Sept. 17, 2006


DeLachende Javaan
A great place to eat.  We were served a buffet dinner at our table. The center of the table was lined with hot-plates to hold the dishes we were served.  The food was great!

DeLachende Javaan
DeLachende Javaan
Frankenstraat 27
2011 HT Haarlem
Tel: 023-532 87 92
FAX: 023-532 96 31
      
 
 
  Where We Ate Wilma & Albert, Steakhouse
Sept. 15, 2006
 


Wilma & Albert, Steakhouse

Linda and I enjoyed great food at Wilma & Albert's.  The inside is cozy!!! But it was a lot of fun!  
This was the first time we learned that most accommodations in Europe (hotels and restaurants)
are cozy (read...tightly packed). 
 

Wilma & Albert
Wilma & Albert, Steakhouse
Oude Groenmarkt 6
Haarlem
Tel: (023) 532 12 56
FAX: (023) 5318754
      
 
 
  Where We Stayed Hotel Joops
A nice hotel located in a great location. It sits right across from the church. We had a hard time finding it because we weren't used to looking for a hotel in this type of neighborhood (remember this was our first trip to Europe). There are several restaurants near by and the train station is a short walk up the street. Recommended. 
 

Joops Hotel
Hotel Joops
Oude Groenmarkt 20
Haarlem, 2011 HL, Netherlands
Tel: 011 31 23 532 2008
FAX: 011 31 23 523 9549
   
 
  Travel Extras


Breakfast Ticket
 


Bus/Train Ticket
 


Multi-Day Train Pass