Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Enjoying Haarlem


As travel writer Rick Steves says, Haarlem has a 'small-town warmth' after 'wild and crazy Amsterdam'. That was certainly the way we felt as we walked through the old town there today. We arrived just after 10am after a twenty minute train trip from Amsterdam and, as we wandered from the station to the Grote Markt, we enjoyed the lack of bikes, cars and crowds.




Our first destination was the Teylers Museum. This is the oldest museum in Holland and gives the feeling of being in a time-warp with its displays of dinosaur bones, minerals and scientific apparatus; its wooden display cabinets and old labels; and its beautiful Oval Room with cases of coins and medals. The oldest part of the museum was built in 1784 to house exhibits left to the city by Pieter Teyler, a wealthy banker and merchant and it seems hardly to have changed since then. In a newer section, there was an interesting exhibition of drawings and etchings by Rembrandt.

Fossils and minerals
Electrostatic generator 1784
The beautiful Oval Room
After lunch in the museum cafe, we walked along the bank of the Spaarne River and then crossed the river to the De Adriaan windmill museum. Here we were given a fascinating guided tour by a volunteer guide who led us up the circular staircases and then the wooden ladders to the level of the sails. On the way, we stopped to look at some remarkable models which were used to show us how different types of windmills operate. The original windmill on this site was built in 1778 and burnt down in 1932. The efforts of locals resulted in the mill being rebuilt as a museum which was opened in 2002. The views from the stage twelve meters above the river were wonderful, despite the strong wind.




The last sight we visited was the Great Church of St Bavo, the cathedral church of Haarlem which is home to Holland's greatest pipe organ. This huge 'over the top' organ has been played by ten-year-old Mozart and by Handel. The floor of the church was entirely covered by about 1500 black gravestones, some of which moved as you stood on them. There was also a chapel named  the Dog-Whipper's Chapel after the carved figure on a supporting stone. Apparently in the Middle Ages a dog-whipper was employed to discipline unruly dogs and keep order in the church.

Great Church of St Bavo
Ceiling of the nave
Organ in St Bavo

This evening we had dinner with Fred Veerman and his daughter Nikki, whom we met in Tanzania in 2009. It was lovely to catch up with them and the restaurant they took us to was very special. Restaurant Anna is a short walk down the street from our apartment and it was interesting to walk back late in the evening with cannabis smoke wafting out of bars and night life just getting under way.

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