We dropped the car off at Schiphol without incident after putting 831 miles on the car. We didn’t have terribly long drives on this part of the trip because the Netherlands and Belgium are pretty small countries when compared to France. But we did do a bit of crisscrossing because we had to go back to Antwerp on Sunday for the concert. This last Thursday was the longest drive we had, about 3 1/2 hours. Nothing like the 10 hours in 2 days we did in France.
After dropping the car, we could have taken the train from the airport to the Central Station for less than 15 euro, but we would have had to schlep about 15 minutes on both ends with the 24-inch suitcase, two backpacks, and a wheelchair. So, we bit the bullet and took a taxi (75 euro), and we’ll do it again on Wednesday when we head to the airport for our flight to Israel.
When we got to the Doubletree, they gave us a wonderful upgrade to a suite.
Since we’re here for 4 nights, it’s great to have a little more room to spread out.
After getting settled in, we headed to the train station for a short ride to the nearby town of Haarlem. I’ve heard so many good things about it that we wanted to check it out. It was a cold and cloudy day, so we were a bit bundled up but still enjoyed our relatively short visit.
When we arrived at the Grote Markt (historic town center), we found that they have a weekly Saturday market. Desiree, you would have loved it. They sold everything from leather goods, to flowers, to food, to rugs. It was great.
After wandering around the market, we stopped for lunch. It should come as no surprise that we had Italian. Cynthia commented on an earlier post that she was surprised about the amount of Italian food there is everywhere. We discovered a long time ago that in virtually every city in Europe has two things…. a Cathedral and at least one, if not more, Italian restaurants. It’s the most popular type of food in the U.S. and it wouldn’t surprise me if it as the same here.
Peter had a pizza, but I was afraid it couldn’t match the incredible pizza I had in Antwerp, so I had ravioli instead.
There are two main churches in Haarlem. We didn’t care enough to walk 20 minutes to get to the main cathedral, but we did pop into the Grote of St.-Bavokerk, which was right on the square.
Construction began in 1370 and concluded in 1520. The church is most known for its incredible organ.
Then it was a 15-minute walk back to the Haarlem station. When we got there, we went into the older side of the station that doesn’t have a lift. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize it until after we scanned our tickets and got to the 2 flights of stairs leading up to the platform. But once again, with the help of two kind strangers, we made it to the top. One woman helped Peter up the stairs while another helped me get the wheelchair to the top.
Now we’re snuggled in our suite wearing the fluffy robes and warm slippers we found in the cabinet. We broke into the gingerbread stocking we bought in Aachen.
Well, it’s just after 5pm and we’re off to the Executive Lounge to check out happy hour. We only have a couple of small peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner so hopefully we can find something good to nibble on. Have a great Saturday night everyone.
Tony’s favorite pastry is Canoli so he loved that photo. Were they as good as they looked?
The town is so quaint but I did notice the cobblestone streets which must be difficult with the wheelchair, no?
The view from your suite is so great!
The cannoli were delicious. We still have 2 more for tomorrow. I was able to push the chair until we got to the square then Peter had to walk. He pushes the chair, so it helps him balance. Yes, the suite is great. I’m so glad we have a little room to spread out for 4 days.
What a large market! It would be fabulous to have a market like that to shop in every day or once a week. Go pick up fresh fish for dinner whenever I wanted. I couldn’t believe all the flowers, so colorful. I do like a good market! Such a cute town. The cobblestone was laid in a design which its an art as well.
The minute I saw the market, I thought of you. You would have loved it!