Haarlem

What a difference a day makes! We woke to bright, blue skies this morning. There was a touch of frost on the roof outside our living room window, and a pretty good breeze. We started the day with a quick spin on the bicycles which the owner has available. They sit very differently from U.S. bikes and we wanted to ensure that we could actually ride them - or more importantly, stop without falling over. It went pretty well.

On the way to Haarlem we saw a unique combination of new and old side-by-side. Near Flagstaff we have people who opposed a windfarm because it "ruined their view", but somehow the Dutch don't see it that way.

A pretty cool bus was out to enjoy the day.

It's always a highlight to drop in at the local patchwork shop in Haarlem.

Haarlem seemed to be especially busy today. The market square is dominated by St. Bavokerk. Off to the side is a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster, a native of Haarlem who is said to have invented the printing press.

Haarlem also has lots of small streets that are just filled with fascinating little details as you walk by the buildings.

Just north of Haarlem is the flour-grinding windmill "de Zandhaas". It was very busy in the shop on the ground floor. The mill is open so that you can go up 3 levels to see the operation on each level and to walk out on the platform.

Here are some videos of the molen in action. It's pretty cool to see just how fast it goes around, and to see how practical windpower actually can be without electricity being involved.