Day 3: Amsterdam & Haarlem

We got going fairly early again today despite the weather being wet and windy. Our mission this morning was to visit Haarlem, a town about 1/2 hour from Amsterdam. I have always wanted to visit Haarlem but hadn't done so on my first two trips to the Netherlands.

So we took the train and got there around 9am. It's a beautiful little town but the weather was not being too kind to us so we had to occasionally take cover from the rain and wind while walking around the town. First stop was the Great Church or St Bavo's. it's a magnificent church located in the main town square and it is the most dominant building in Haarlem. The floor of the church consists entirely of gravestones, 1500 of them, the oldest dating back to the 15th century.

Needing a hot drink to warm us up we dropped into a cafe for a coffee and hot chocolate. Our drinks were also served with some of the most awesome ice cream, not that we needed something cold. This also served to kill some time as the museums in Haarlem didn't open until 10am.

The first museum we visited was the Frans Hal Museum. Apparently Frans Hal is hailed as one of the three greatest painters of the Golden Age along with Rembrandt and Vermeer. I was particularly taken by the links between China and the Netherlands as portrayed at the museum. The Dutch greatly admired Chinese knowledge and skills such as the production of porcelain, which surpassed European ceramics at the time.

We then wandered into the Haarlem Museum which was very interesting. The guy behind the counter was also extremely helpful and friendly. Our experience of this museum started with a film about the history of this town which was very good. We learnt that the earliest inhabitants of this area were hunters from the Gooi dating back to 3600 BC. In 1245 Haarlem was granted town privileges and from that moment Haarlem was no longer a village but a city with its own council. Some of the interesting facts about Haarlem include:
- For centuries Haarlem was one of the biggest and most important cities of brewers in the Low Countries. In 1640 there were about 52 breweries, 50% of the cities income came from beer taxes.
- Haarlem was known as a city of printers from back in the 1480's. The Haarlems Dagblad is the oldest paper in the world.
- Haarlem is also known as the city of flowers. Until the 20th century Haarlem was famous for its bulb growing industry.

We learnt much more about Haarlem and I recommend a visit to the Haarlem Museum. There is also a section about Hanis Schaft who is a famous Haarlem woman from the Dutch resistance during WWII. I have become more interested in the stories of these brave people especially after reading the book by Miep Gies who hid Anne Frank and her family as well as remembering some of the stories Oma used to tell from her time during the war. I may go back to the Resistance Museum and learn more about this time in Dutch history.

After walking around a bit more of Haarlem we caught the train back to Amsterdam a bit after lunch. The weather was still a bit ordinary but we decided to grab a tram and visit the Museum Van Loon. The Van Loon family have over 400 years of history that is closely related to Amsterdam. It was Willem Van Loon who in the beginning of the golden age developed his talents in the business world as co founder of he Dutch East India Company in 1602. The house where the museum is located was built in 1672.

After visiting the Museum Van Loon it was time to put our feet up for the afternoon so we enjoyed a cider and a snack at a bar at the Rembrantplein before walking through the flower market and catching another tram and having another cider at the Leidseplein. The sun has finally made its appearance and the skies are clearing a bit. Let's hope this continues for the rest of our visit.Read more