Last days in Haarlem

A few scenes from our last days in Haarlem Netherlands - really nice town, beautiful architecture, very laid back and less crowded than Amsterdam - nice to go there and return here.  The public transportation system is incredible with multiple buses and trains - but so far, the London Oyster Card beats the Netherlands Chipcard hands down for using the means available.  We saved both cards "just in case".

Moto-Guzzi pick up truck?

The family of geese on my daily exercise walk

Garden of downtown Haarlem hotel

Window of a store which sells home made furniture

Statue at a downtown Haarlem hotel

Couldn't resist - the round egg carton is for SEVEN eggs -
there was also a triangular one for three which I saw only
after I took the photo!

Backyard of Jopen Brewery with food trucks, community garden
and lots of people enjoying the California weather we brought to the
Netherlands -- the brewery is in an old church building

New Android unlocked cell phone and yes I miss my IPhone!

Quick and unexpected trip to Amsterdam before we departed for Berlin

We learned the hard way about train reservations.  Decided Saturday May 24 it was high time to buy our train tickets to Berlin.   Danny spent a couple of hours trying to buy the tickets on line - nothing seemed to work.  Then I tried - same thing.  Credit cards which work fine for reservations in the US simply don't work well on line out of the country.  Then Danny's new cell phone sim card appeared to die.  So instead of being able to call around for information, we walked (another beautiful day we were planning when we thought of heading back to the beach) to the Haarlem station to buy a ticket - come to find out they are not sold there since this is international travel.  The station LOOKED big but it's actually for very localised train travel only.  So we used our train "chip card" to jump on the next train back to Amsterdam (not far, imagine taking BART from Lake Merritt to Embarcadero in San Francisco) but not part of our plans for the day.  My card card didn't work so I snuck on to the train.  We arrived at Central Station (18 minutes), stood in line for tickets, and when we got to the head of the line, were directed to another area at the other side of Central Station for International travel.  Who knew?  At least it was surprisingly short line especially considering it was a  weekend.  Next shocker, little did we know a ticket was not just a ticket and that ten days out, the prices go up exponentially.  Just like airplanes.  Tickets advertised for E39 a couple of months ago were now costing about E125. Ouch.  The ticket seller advised us to make sure we get tickets at least ten days out in the future.  I vaguely recalled someone may have told me this but for some reason, this important information had receded to the back of my mind and would now be coming back to haunt me!  I had thought of renting a car since Amsterdam to Berlin is just a day trip and had emailed Kemwel earlier but apparently the vehicle pick up in Netherlands, drop off in Germany would be a problem.  OK, so we had the tickets in hand finally, and hopped back on the next train to Haarlem.  Next day - to deal with the cell phones!  Again.

Danny kind off frustrated on the train to Amsterdam - Would we actually be going to Berlin on May 26 as scheduled?

YES!!

Sunset May 22, 2014 in Haarlem overlooking fields and suburban neighborhood

These were taken in the neighborhood where we are staying in Haarlem.  Hoped to add more photos to this especially from the beach which would give us a western view over the North Sea - but it means getting home by some means of transportation after that!  Unfortunately we did not get there late enough so these will have to do.  Pretty enough for sure.

Taken around 9:15 at night with sunset at 9:41

Light lingers on for about 45 minutes post sunset - this
 was taken around 9:30 pm - no editing, this was the color

Oh the places you'll go, the things that you'll see.....

I took my camera today only to be able to text DW to get back into the apartment - only one set of  keys and yelling "let me in" doesn't work - and lo and behold more sights to behold on my daily exercise walk.  Yah never know ...  so best to have camera in hand.....on to the beach!!  3 more days before a change of venue.

Gate to yet another woodland path

Mom and cygnets of one swan variety
very large and heavy

Brown geese family swimming in canal 

More and more eggs for sale!

Swan family, same canal, different location

Out on the bikes!

Finally got it together to take the bikes out yesterday afternoon - kindly provided to guests by our host Ellen - these were real heavy Dutch style bikes - easy to ride and maneuver, not so easy to stop as they are quite tall.  I haven't ridden my own bike for a couple of years so it was a challenge until I got my "bike legs" back and could hop on and off easily!  We rode down the same road to the beach we had walked a day earlier (7K - and I did go into the water which was warmer than in Sarasota last month and this is the North Sea) because we could NOT find the bike path through the dunes.  At the beach end it was easier so we returned back on the path - very isolated landscape other than these cows.  After we hit civilization again, we biked through an adjacent town and passed by fields with Dutch Friesian horses.  We plan to check out the beach again tomorrow if the weather holds and so far, the sun is still shining on these two Californians.  Rain only a bit, and in the middle of the night - so far!

               These looked like Scottish Highland Cattle although there may be a Dutch variety.

Beach at Zandvoort - The Norde See was warmer than Sarasota FL's beach last month

More photos of the morning exercise activities.....or race walk...

Here are some more photos of our daily routine (from Wednesday May 21) - getting up, making coffee and hitting the road except this time, sidewalks to wooded flat wide very well maintained paths in and along woods and fields.  May 22 (a very important family birthday MMW) now, and we are off to Amsterdam.  It is totally sunny and breezy out so should be beautiful there.  

Edge of a garden along the road to the park entrance

Entrance to the wooded park which is filled with old growth trees

House and garden on the edge of the park has a fairytale appearance

Running/walking/bike paths through woods are all well kept
with dogs off leash - saw no Bouviers (sad about that)
a variety of smaller dogs (lots of wire haired dachshunds
Mr. Otis

Flowers growing up and over the roof

H

Old growth tree - hardwood, quite tall with huge trunk

Mansion along the bike trail just outside the park

Farm on edge of the park - another smaller farm
seems to be breeding and training Dutch Warmbloods

Trampolines of all sizes abound in the area even at the beach where we saw an array of about 8 huge ones set over a pit - mostly with people sunbathing on them.

Morning Racewalk in Haarlem May 19th - still sunny!!

Neighbor in Haarlem

Canal by the "big road" - 4 lanes 

Although we are in a suburban area of Haarlem, it's a quick trip to be out in the countryside.  We can walk or run past a horse breeding operation, little canals with private boats, and a huge wooded area which apparently connects to larger areas all the way down to the shore.

Tavern at entrance to park

It seems that every time a corner is turned, there is a small bakery or tavern/pub. This one is at the entrance to the park where we run (not sure of the name) in the morning, about a 10 minute race walk from the apartment.

Small Canal on wooded path

This smaller canal runs along the dirt path which is actually quite wide enough for walkers, runners, bikes going in either direction and horses as well.  
                                                                           

And of course this would be one of our neighbors!  

Above is the entrance to the wooded paths of the park after we pass the canal -- and below is a view from the bridge crossing the highway on the way back to our temporary headquarters here in Haarlem.

Overview of the canal from a small bridge

Dutch Poultry Siting - very eggciting!!

Haarlem NE Egg Business

Well I heard two roosters crowing this morning on my first race walk since we left California - too busy and too much regular walking for sightseeing and just plain getting around.  Anyway, we are here in Haarlem with no schedule to speak of (take a walk, go to the beach, check out the bikes to the dikes, etc.) so investigated crower #2 and this is what I discovered.  Family farms abound here the  same as do urban farmers in Oakland.

Buy of the Producer!

Visiting Christie

Our main reason for starting out our trip in London was to visit my cousin Christie.   We discovered (after much calculating together) we'd not seen each other since 2003!  And before that, she recalled visiting us in MA while M was 8. Way too long times and distance between us....  Christie moved from Boston to London many years ago as a young woman and never returned often or for very long.  A life long creative person she is an artist and as first cousins with no siblings, we grew up together as sisters - she lived in Watertown MA and I lived in Wakefield.  Our Mums were sisters and very very close (which meant either talking on the phone all the time or fighting with each other when they got together)!  Anyway, during this visit with her and her friend Ian at her lovely little home in Denmark Hill (a London suburb), we were able to catch up as if we'd never been separated for all these years.  We went to her home briefly one evening (after our day in Oxford), and met her in downtown London where she toured us around, showing us some sights we would never have seen otherwise - Covent Garden (way too crowded) - Trafalger Square - very busy as well - and a quiet little street where there are only shops selling musical instruments - mostly guitars - very fun indeed.  Too short a visit, but very enjoyable.  She and Ian took us out to dinner our last night - to an Indian restaurant with totally delicious food - very uncrowded - we were the only patrons which made it seem like a private party.  Next stop Haarlem in the Netherlands...

Christie and Cheska

Visit to Oxford University - a town with many Colleges (with a capital C)

St. John's College Courtyard

Chapel at St. John's College

Had a delight-filled visit with HJ, our friend, who invited us to visit him at Oxford where he is a graduate student.  He took us on a wonderful tour of two of the Oxford Colleges - a tour guide in training and did a great job - he has learned a great deal about the history of Oxford University which is really a collection of multiple "colleges".  Our visit was short but informative and preceded by his hosting us to a wonderful lunch at the college he attends (St. Cross).  We took the train from London (and the tube to the train) - amazingly great, well marked, labelled and accurately announced train information for the regular and foreign traveler to London.  This was our first venture using the tube and buses and it was totally easy as a result of the terrific system.  Oxford is about an hour and a quarter out of the city and kind of a fairy book village consisting mostly of the various colleges - which began in the 12th century!  And we think of our 1923 vintage home as "old"!

Next stop - a visit with Cousin Christie Watson Legee!

View from Quaking Bridge in Oxford town

Small greenhouse near Christchurch in Oxford

Window dressing in downtown (?) Oxford

Not sure what bird variety this is but he is large

A spreading ??? tree too wide to capture on film

Wisteria blooming at St. John's College garden entrance

Amazingly colorful red maple, St. John's College garden

DW with our illustrious host and tour guide HJ

HG and DW at entrance to St. John's College Oxford U