Amsterdam #6

 June 24th . clear blue sky and hot.

Today we left mid morning to catch a train to Haarlem, just West of Amsterdam.  The station there is a beautifully preserved old building with up to date technology and trains.   

The signage and much of the facade is in tiles and there is also a lot of polished wood in the Art Deco style. Built in 1910 as a replacement for the old building it was used in the movie Oceans Twelve to depict Amsterdam Station - presumably because it is more photogenic.

From the station we walked up quaint cobbled streets to Queens - a tea shop whose British owner is an avid royal fan and serves British teas in the Dutch manner.   She also offered “authentic scones” which Little Sister and Nephew ordered.  

The small jars of clotted cream and strawberry jam were definite made in UK but the scone wasn’t up to British Standard!

In central Haarlem is the Grote Kerk of St Bavo.   Originally a Catholic Church, during the course of Dutch history it became Protestant and is now classified as a Reformed Protestant Church and has a Rooster Weathervane on the top.   Apparently Rooster vanes denote Protestant, a cross denotes Catholic and a swan denotes Lutheran.   

The church has a huge and wonderful pipe organ which although recently renovated dates back to 1735 and has the distinction of having been played by Mozart and Handel - at different times.   

To the right of the organ there was the Dog Whipper Chapel where the Dog Whipper kept the animals brought to church from being unruly.   

Then to the left was the Holy Ghost Bench where the Ghostmaster distributed alms to the poor.  Further down the church was The Brewers Chapel!   

The floor was interesting too.  Approximately 1500 tombstones - well worn over the centuries by all who’ve trod on them - some with holes still visible, with which they would be lifted to add bodies.   I can only imagine that churches were ‘fragrant places’ in those days.

We also walked past Corrie Ten Boom’s house which is now a museum but was unfortunately closed on a Monday.

Haarlem is a picturesque city, with fewer canals than Amsterdam but it does have a working grinding Windmill right in town which fortunately had a shady cafe near by.

It was a hot day so we wandered the shady streets where we found more of the strange numbering system.  Some houses have identical street numbers with the difference denoted only by colour eg a red 10 and a black 10.   How one addresses correctly and delivers mail correctly under this system I do not know.

Having spent a full day in Haarlem we returned home late afternoon, hot, tired and happy.