Day 5 - Out of town

Today was our last day in Amsterdam and we’d planned a trip out of town to visit Haarlem and the MH17 Memorial.  Breakfast again at the little bakery across the street and then the #2 tram into Centraal before hopping on the Sprinter to Haarlem.  A super smooth and quick ride and we were there in about 15min.

Haarlem is gorgeous and has a real olde world feel compared with Amsterdam.  The buildings are not as tall and once again the styles of architecture are lovely.

Lots of little alleys to peep down before coming round the corner to come face to face with St Bavo’s. 

Building work started in 1370 and was mostly completed by about 1520AD.  St Bavo’s transformed to a protestant church in 1578 and in the 1730’s the installed a 5068 pipe organ that Mozart played in 1766 when he was 10.

The floor of the church consists entirely of gravestones - about 1500 in all including the grave of the painter Frans Hals.

After some time checking out the church (and not bursting into flames) we wandered through the town, round the Groth Market and found a little place for a coffee before heading off in search of the Molen De Adriaan (windmill).  We walked a little further than intended because once again, my internal compass couldn’t coordinate with google-maps.  We got there only to find out the windmill is only open Friday-Monday.

And there are always a few things that make you think - Only in the Netherlands - including a cannabis dispensary and a sex shop both in the shadow of a church.

Back to the Grotemarkt and lunch in a little crepe place before heading back to the station to catch the bus out to the MH17 memorial.  Some of you will know that we have a young friend whose mum was on that fateful flight and I wanted to see her tree.  It was bitterly cold but I’m so glad we made the effort.

Back to the bus-stop, back to Haarlem station and the Sprinter back to Amsterdam Centraal.  Tomorrow we say goodbye to Amsterdam and are off to Brussels.