30 April 2016
Haarlem

We spent last night tied up at one of the town mooring jetties, right in the middle of the city. It is just steps away from shops, bars, restaurants and museums, all of which we made use of :). It is also in the middle of the traffic, however. We did get to eat out last night. Popped into a very busy little bar full of locals for a quick drink and then had a burger (for skip) and a salad (for me) in the atmospheric cellar of the Irish Pub. Was very good and not too expensive.

It has been a lovey warm sunny day with open blue skies and no wind. What a change from yesterday. 

The old part of the city is very attractive with the most listed buildings anywhere in the country. According to the tourism blurb, the town declined during the 19thC as Amsterdam took precedence, with the result that many of the old buildings remained unchanged and un- "modernised". Hooray.

We were thrilled to discover that Saturday was market day which is appropriately held in the Grote Markt in front of the central church.   

Look at all those pesto sauces!

We did´nt need much, but did pick up a few irresistable goodies like gorgonzola bread (Yum) and smoked rib-eye steaks. Now they were delicious, but could just as well have been pork steaks (half the price) so won´t do that again.

Making stroop waffels.

Cheese shop

After lunch, skip put his bike ashore and went to find the Gamma (big DIY store) and a supermarket to buy milk and wine, neither of which we could get at the market. I indulged in an afternoon of window shopping and museums.

Later, we decided to move our mooring a little way past the next two bridges to a quieter spot. 500m downstream we found a visitors dock with free electricity surrounded by lovely homes and gardens. There was no indication whether one was supposed to pay or not, but as no-one came to collect any money, who knows. The moorings right in the centre of town are 12 euros a day, including electric, which one pays for at a pay-and-display parking meter. 

There is a rowing club just a couple of hundred metres down stream, so one has to watch out manoeuvring.

While wandering the narrow old streets of Haarlem, we came across an area of windows with signs "NO photographs". "I wonder who would want to take pictures of these ugly windows with chairs in them? " I asked. Skip rolled his eyes and had to explain to me why. I am always slow about these things. So, as we dutifully took no photos, here is a painting to give you a clue :)