Phew. I have just finished writing the rest of the entries for Monday and Sunday and now I have to do today's. That's a lot of blogging. Oh well. It is always hard when you get even one or two days behind to catch back up but I am doing it. I woke up and had some more stroopwafels for breakfast. I also had some crackers. It was raining a little when I left my hostel which sucks. I bought my train ticket to Haarlem. That name should look and sound familiar because back when New York was New Amsterdam, Harlem was named after the Dutch town of Haarlem. Haarlem had it's Golden Age at the same time as Amsterdam as well. It was a town of merchants 
and traders. Amsterdam and Haarlem are only a 20 minute train ride apart. I purposefully did not bring my new book with me because I want to try and save it for later (like my plane ride back home or the plane ride to London). I just sat and looked out my window at the Dutch landscape. Not much to see frankly. There is a lot of urban sprawl like Industrial Areas. There was one little bit of field though with some cows. I arrived in Haarlem and it stopped raining. I walked down the street for 10 minutes to the Grote Markt (Market Square). This is the best part of town. The architecture of the city was similar but not the same as Amsterdam. There were still some skinny brick houses but they didn't seem as prevalent and there were fewer canals which really changed how the town looks.I went into the Grote Kerk (picture 1). It is like most other Dutch churches (white walls, wooden ceiling, graves on the floor) but still super interesting because of all the knick knacks in the walls. I
used my Rick Steves' book and did a tour around the church. I saw the pulpit with snakes running away from the Word of God as hand rails on the steps. On one of the columns, there is a mark showing the tallest and shortest members of Haarlem since the church was built. One guy was 8'8" and the other was about 2'9". Rumor has it that the dwarf guy got killed in a dwarf tossing competition back in the day. I don't know if I believe that or not. There is a cannon ball stuck in one of the walls in memory of when Haarlem was laid under siege by the Spanish in 1537. It was kind of like the Alamo. They defended braving but ended up surrendering. There is a column top with a carving of the Dog 
Whipper. He kept the dogs out of the church on rainy market days (picture 3). The organ of the church is unbelievably big (picture 3). It has 5,028 different pipes. By pulling a couple levers, you can make it sound like a tuba (!), a flute, or almost any other instrument. Handel and Mozart both played it. While I was walking around, a guy was practicing for the organ festival in a couple weeks. I learned that tid bit from one of the workers who came up to me as I was looking at those height marks. She spoke to me in Dutch. When I smiled and nodded dumbly she found out I spoke English. That happened to me like 6 times today. People spoke Dutch to me. It made me feel
good that I didn't totally look like a tourist (or at least an English speaking one).
used my Rick Steves' book and did a tour around the church. I saw the pulpit with snakes running away from the Word of God as hand rails on the steps. On one of the columns, there is a mark showing the tallest and shortest members of Haarlem since the church was built. One guy was 8'8" and the other was about 2'9". Rumor has it that the dwarf guy got killed in a dwarf tossing competition back in the day. I don't know if I believe that or not. There is a cannon ball stuck in one of the walls in memory of when Haarlem was laid under siege by the Spanish in 1537. It was kind of like the Alamo. They defended braving but ended up surrendering. There is a column top with a carving of the Dog 
Whipper. He kept the dogs out of the church on rainy market days (picture 3). The organ of the church is unbelievably big (picture 3). It has 5,028 different pipes. By pulling a couple levers, you can make it sound like a tuba (!), a flute, or almost any other instrument. Handel and Mozart both played it. While I was walking around, a guy was practicing for the organ festival in a couple weeks. I learned that tid bit from one of the workers who came up to me as I was looking at those height marks. She spoke to me in Dutch. When I smiled and nodded dumbly she found out I spoke English. That happened to me like 6 times today. People spoke Dutch to me. It made me feel
good that I didn't totally look like a tourist (or at least an English speaking one). As I left and the church and started walking toward the Frans Hals Museum, I passed by a bunch of shops attached to the side of the church like barnacles. This is just like it was in Medieval times. The church had to make money to keep building or whatever so they put stores along the outside and rented the space out. Pretty cool. So, as I said, I went to the Frans Hals Museum next. I talked about him yesterday as well when I went to the Rijksmuseum. He was around in the Golden Age and painted all sorts of things (landscapes, portraits, group portraits, still lifes, you name it). This museum, obviously, houses the largest collection of him in the world. The museum is housed in an old dormitory or something. Anyway, I started off by looking at paintings by people who came before and were contemporaries of Hals. Then I saw a bunch of his Civic Guard group portraits (picture 4). They are so cool. Each person in each painting 
has a different personality and you can see it just by looking at this one little painting of them. It was fun trying to think about what each guy was like. I was excited to get to the next part because that was where his portraits were but there was an exhibition going on! That means all those paintings of his were not out!!!! BOOOOOOOO! Instead, I looked at a bunch of paintings by the de Bray family. They were good and stuff but I came to the Frans Hals Museum to see FRANS HALS! Oh well. Rick Steves talked about some of the paintings that were not hanging up so I looked at the paintings as postcards in the book shop. Haha. Not as good but it will do. I bought a couple 
postcards and then left.
has a different personality and you can see it just by looking at this one little painting of them. It was fun trying to think about what each guy was like. I was excited to get to the next part because that was where his portraits were but there was an exhibition going on! That means all those paintings of his were not out!!!! BOOOOOOOO! Instead, I looked at a bunch of paintings by the de Bray family. They were good and stuff but I came to the Frans Hals Museum to see FRANS HALS! Oh well. Rick Steves talked about some of the paintings that were not hanging up so I looked at the paintings as postcards in the book shop. Haha. Not as good but it will do. I bought a couple 
postcards and then left. I started to walk around a little bit trying to, what else, find a place to eat. I ended up at the same brand of department store as the day before. They have the same cafeteria style dining. I bought a cheese filled pastry and a sausage one. I took them and walked back to the Grote Markt and ate them there. It was a nice atmosphere and actually wasn't raining which was nice (still cloudy). I walked to the Teyler's Museum next (picture 5). It was the first public museum in the Netherlands. It was created by the bequeath of a 
guy named, you guessed it, Teyler. The museum houses fossils and other scientific stuff but also coins and paintings. I used my museumkaart (sweettttt) and got a free audio guide as well. I looked at the fossils. Pretty cool. It had been a while since I saw genuine fossils so it was fun to look and imagine those creatures long ago. One of the most interesting parts of the museum is that they have kept the arrangement that the stuff was originally in. So the visitor can get a look at how people back in the 1800s thought this stuff was organized. Pretty cool. There was a little room with rocks that glow in the dark and other rocks that glow under UV light. Those were really
awesome. One of the rocks glowed bright blue. The paintings were ok. I liked some of the Dutch Impressionists they had. It was strange that the D.I. did not really use bright colors but did use some of the same techniques. I guess there aren't really a lot of bright colors in the Netherlands.
I left the museum and walked by the windmill in town (picture 6) and then walked through the tiny Red Light District. It was four pm so most of the "workers" were not there. I walked through because that sort of thing is special to this region. It would be like going to London and not riding a double decker bus or something like that. The
district had the same sort of look as the one in Amsterdam. Women in womens showing off their stuff with a red neon light along the top of the window. The women almost always wear a bra and panties. I am just describing it so that you all get an idea of what it is like. Anyway, I walked through the area (which has two churches in it) and back to the train. I went to "Our Lord in the Attic" Church when I got back to Amsterdam. It is a museum about the hidden Catholic Churches in Amsterdam. I have already discussed them so I won't say much more about it. The museum is reallllly cool and the church is very nice (picture 7). It can seat 150 people. There is an altar with a
painting of Jesus being baptized behind it. There are a couple cool statues in the back. There were two old kitchens in the back part of the house. They looked very Vermeer-ish (quiet, old, etc.). I liked the museum a lot (Vermeer-esque tiles picture 8). It would be fun to go to a mass there (they don't have them anymore).
I went to the library and did yesterday's post and emailed people and stuff (view from library picture 8). Then I went to get dinner. I bet you guess where I went. The grocery store of course!! I got fruit salad, a tuna sandwich, some pop, and some chips. I ate them at... Dam Square, of course! Haha. It was basically the same thing I have done for the past three dinners. Oh well. There was a pub crawl organizing on the steps by me. The woman working for the company who gets the money was being very persuasive with the people who were unsure. After eating, I went on the Red Light District Walk in my Rick Steves Book (the main canal of the RLD picture 9). Yup, he has a walk about it. There are lots of bars and coffee shops (um, marijuana) and lots of prostitutes. Just a crazy place. The weirdest part for me is that there are like churches and stuff in the area too (picture 10). I guess I am naïve or something like that but seriously, the Old Church in smack dab in the middle of the RLD. There were a couple very skinny alleyways where most of the "workers" were. They were organized by race usually. Anyway, it was a weird experience walking through there and if you want to know more about it or something let me know and I can tell you about it. I came back to the hostel and read. I talked to a girl from Canada for a little bit. She was nice. Then I tried to go to sleep.
Till Next Time!
guy named, you guessed it, Teyler. The museum houses fossils and other scientific stuff but also coins and paintings. I used my museumkaart (sweettttt) and got a free audio guide as well. I looked at the fossils. Pretty cool. It had been a while since I saw genuine fossils so it was fun to look and imagine those creatures long ago. One of the most interesting parts of the museum is that they have kept the arrangement that the stuff was originally in. So the visitor can get a look at how people back in the 1800s thought this stuff was organized. Pretty cool. There was a little room with rocks that glow in the dark and other rocks that glow under UV light. Those were really
awesome. One of the rocks glowed bright blue. The paintings were ok. I liked some of the Dutch Impressionists they had. It was strange that the D.I. did not really use bright colors but did use some of the same techniques. I guess there aren't really a lot of bright colors in the Netherlands.I left the museum and walked by the windmill in town (picture 6) and then walked through the tiny Red Light District. It was four pm so most of the "workers" were not there. I walked through because that sort of thing is special to this region. It would be like going to London and not riding a double decker bus or something like that. The
district had the same sort of look as the one in Amsterdam. Women in womens showing off their stuff with a red neon light along the top of the window. The women almost always wear a bra and panties. I am just describing it so that you all get an idea of what it is like. Anyway, I walked through the area (which has two churches in it) and back to the train. I went to "Our Lord in the Attic" Church when I got back to Amsterdam. It is a museum about the hidden Catholic Churches in Amsterdam. I have already discussed them so I won't say much more about it. The museum is reallllly cool and the church is very nice (picture 7). It can seat 150 people. There is an altar with a
painting of Jesus being baptized behind it. There are a couple cool statues in the back. There were two old kitchens in the back part of the house. They looked very Vermeer-ish (quiet, old, etc.). I liked the museum a lot (Vermeer-esque tiles picture 8). It would be fun to go to a mass there (they don't have them anymore).I went to the library and did yesterday's post and emailed people and stuff (view from library picture 8). Then I went to get dinner. I bet you guess where I went. The grocery store of course!! I got fruit salad, a tuna sandwich, some pop, and some chips. I ate them at... Dam Square, of course! Haha. It was basically the same thing I have done for the past three dinners. Oh well. There was a pub crawl organizing on the steps by me. The woman working for the company who gets the money was being very persuasive with the people who were unsure. After eating, I went on the Red Light District Walk in my Rick Steves Book (the main canal of the RLD picture 9). Yup, he has a walk about it. There are lots of bars and coffee shops (um, marijuana) and lots of prostitutes. Just a crazy place. The weirdest part for me is that there are like churches and stuff in the area too (picture 10). I guess I am naïve or something like that but seriously, the Old Church in smack dab in the middle of the RLD. There were a couple very skinny alleyways where most of the "workers" were. They were organized by race usually. Anyway, it was a weird experience walking through there and if you want to know more about it or something let me know and I can tell you about it. I came back to the hostel and read. I talked to a girl from Canada for a little bit. She was nice. Then I tried to go to sleep.
Till Next Time!
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