A Great Day in Haarlem

A Great Day in Haarlem I

The Story So Far
PDR and I completed two weeks of wonderful times in Germany and Amsterdam that has been reported on and will be expanded upon on her blog. I am now in the midst of another week in the low countries. I'm not sure how many posts I will have up during the week, but I'll try to keep y'all as up to date as possible

The Netherlands Connexion
After bidding farewell to lovely, I did some research for the rest of the trip and then jumped a 300 bus from Shiphol Airport to Haarlem. After a stop or two, four uniformed officers jumped on board and did a complete and thorough fare card check of everyone. It was something to behold. Portland's Tri-Met fare inspectors are like below bush leaguers when it came to this crew.

At first I thought they were like regular police guys, but then I noticed they had Connexion, the name of the suburban bus service in the area on the back of their SWAT jackets. There was definitely a fare amount of martial training in the way they carried themselves. My waiter at dinner said one time he was in the Metro and they had eight guys doing this detail.

That's one Grote Markt
I found my way to Grote Markt Square. It was very unoccupied except for a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster holding up a piece of hand carved type. Gutenberg gets the credit, but ol' LJ gets a piece of my heart. He is kind of like those Skladanowsky Brothers whose efforts are overlooked by the Lumieres. History is full of Rodney Dangerfields. I think LJ is one of them.

I later went to the top of the Vroom & Dreesmann (aka V & D, which considering some of the hedonism associated with the culture of Netherlands is a bit evocative a title) and had a cup of coffee and a roll and admired a city that has its orgins .nearly a thousand years ago. I then went to the tourist office and bought tickets for the Teylers Museum and the Frans Hals Museum. I guess I should have gone there first because with my purchase they gave me a coupon for, guess what! a cup of coffee at V&D.

Haarlem v. Amsterdam
Haarlem is like Amsterdam's more civil and less manic sister. Especially in non-peak tourist times. The bikes are far fewer and it is easier to stay out of their way. A lot of the same elements that make Amsterdam unique are present, but not as manic or noisy and the touristy steak houses and all of that kind of nonsense is not apparent at all. It feels like a lot of cities in Europe with a great legacy. And I learned that the most powerful citizens in Haarlem were, for a long time, the brewers in the town. Printing and beer. Sounds good to me.

To be Continued...