16.08.08 From Krommenie to Haarlem

We’re on the move again. The rain has stopped, the wind has dropped to a tolerable breeze and we are off to Haarlem.

The last time Alex was in Haarlem was 37 years ago! … (He was actually in Haarlem, for about one hour, on a whistle stop tour, in the back of a rubber-band-driven Daf, driven at break-neck speed (though this is well nigh impossible in a Daf) by friends of friends living in Amsterdam. (Nothing whatsoever remembered!)

So this time, do it properly! We had a lovely trip down to the beginning of the 8 bridges of Haarlem where we were told to pay the toll for passage at the Harbourmaster’s cabin before we could proceed – E8.25.

We twiddled about a bit in the strengthening wind but moored up and paid up, then proceeded through the next 4 bridges easily, and hoped to be able to moor there for a couple of days. We hove to briefly on a quay reserved for hotel boats while we surveyed the scene, but no room anywhere – again. Then we spotted a small yacht leaving the opposite quayside, so we cast off and made a beeline for the space vacated. In his enthusiasm Alex just ever so slightly misjudged the wind and his approach, and found himself with the rear end of Riccall fast approaching (sideways) a small cruiser. A swift choice to be made – hit the quay with the front end – hard – or hit the cruiser with the back end – hard. So – we hit with the front end. Then full opposite lock, forward power, then back into full reverse to avoid the yacht in front! Oh well, no damage done, no bricks out of the quay, no crockery on the floor in Riccall, and most importantly it seems no-one but us noticed! (We know you’re all asking – is this man safe to be let loose?)

Haarlem is about 15 minutes by train from Amsterdam and about 15 light years away from it in style, feel and ambiance. For a start, it’s on a river which twists and turns its way through the heart of the town with a few canals cutting the corners and squaring up the meanders. The canal and river streets are much wider than in Amsterdam but the interconnecting streets are much narrower. Amsterdam’s canal system is almost wholly man-made and radiates from a central point which is now the railway station – in a series of ever increasing semi-circles, with interlinking canals. Haarlem as a town is smaller, easier-going and less frenetic than the capital but still so picturesque.

Haarlem’s Grote Kerk with its 5000 pipe organ is a must, especially when the organ is being played as it was on our visit, but we were disappointed not to be able to climb the tower. This is allowed on only two days a year – the 13th and 14th of September when we are back in the UK!

However, we did go to the open-air section of the restaurant at the top of the V & D department store, built in art nouveau style in the 1920s which gave us an excellent bird’s eye view of the city, complete with the birds! Jackdaws and seagulls have become so tame that they hover above you while you ‘enjoy’ your meal!

As usual, on this trip, we had arrived in town during a special event. This time a Jazz Festival, so in the evening we walked around the several stages soaking up the various styles of jazz on offer: from the smaller three piece way-out stuff to the larger, more trad style with a huge ensemble of players and the usual solo slots for trumpet, sax, trombone, bassoon etc. The organisers were a bit on edge as the previous strong winds had destroyed the marquee for the main event and a smaller one with many pegs and guy ropes had had to be erected in double quick time!

However, the mood was jolly and the drinks cheap. In our case free – as we didn’t know the form and the bartender couldn’t be bothered to explain in English that you needed tokens for drinks which you bought from a different location, so we got our first drinks for free and we didn’t leave till well after midnight.

The next day we had a last ride round Haarlem: the fantastic flower market, cup of coffee in the Groen Markt and a quick look at the almshouses for the elderly, built in 1395!

I am sure there will be people out there saying, ‘What about all the museums, art galleries etc?’ Well, I’m sorry, but we generally don’t do these (seen one, you’ve seen them all – Alex) except for specialist interest items: viz - the Mona Lisa in Paris a few years ago which turned out to be such a disappointment. When we get to Den Haag, however, Louise is determined to see in the ‘flesh’ ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by Vermeer, which we have on our wall both at home and on Riccall. But apart from that …

We got through the next three bridges of Haarlem without incident and then at the last bridge the bridge-keeper (female) comes out of her cabin and gesticulates to us to hurry up and indicates the gap we had left between us and the two boats in front. How the hell we can be expected to keep up with a couple of gin palaces, each with 350 HP and weighing about 20 tons, when we only have 120 HP to push 75 tons I do not know, and obviously neither did she!

Onward and we soon turned left onto the Ringvaart van Haarlemmermeerpolder (!!!!)

Here we have a found a nice free mooring on the canal-side from which we have been on two bike trips. The first just round the nearby lake, but the second was to appease Louise’s love of all things aeroplane related. We have been plagued (Alex) or blessed (Louise) for the last three weeks as we have skirted Schipol by planes landing and taking off virtually overhead. Thus to runway No 4 at Schipol airport which is being used today for 90% of landings. It is about 45 minutes from here by bike and when we got there we found a huge car park, complete with snack bar for all the other plane-spotting saddos! Actually, although it was a pleasant warm Saturday, the place was only 20% occupied, but we did get to see the steady stream of landings at ninety second intervals from the parallel bike track which runs about 50m from the runway so you could choose to see anything from touchdown to final taxiing into the terminal. There were people with step ladders to get a better view, state of the art cameras, camcorders and not forgetting the short-wave radios to pick up pilot-speak, and even whole families with kids, loungers, picnics, the whole she-bang! Weird! We are here once in a lifetime but some of them are probably here every week, if not everyday. We decided it was probably so that they would be on the spot in case of disaster with photos, video (and sound probably) to sell to the media! (Cynical or what?)