Friday, February 10, 2006
Netherlands Trip 07/02/2006 - Haarlem
Yesterday night was not a very good night even for a heavy sleeper like me. Perhaps I was too excited to explore Netherlands. Fell asleep after tossing (sorry abt disturbing the neighbor below my double-decker bed) for 30 min, which is pretty unusual.
I woke up at 0645 to wash-up and everything. Breakfast starts serving at 0730 in the bar-cum-restaurant. It was a buffet: cornflakes, hard bread (it’s not a derogatory statement, the bread is meant to be hard), normal bread, cakes, hams, cheese, juices, coffee, tea, hot chocolate… I had a super-full breakfast just to prepare myself for skipping lunch later. I grabbed a small packet of honey so that it can give me an energy boost later in the afternoon. I met this Korean gentleman at breakfast, which I have no way of recalling the name. He was also traveling alone and just when I thought he was going to leave, he turned and gave me a traditional Korean mask keychain. Man, I was so disappointed that I didn’t bring my Merlion keychains with me. If not, it would have made a perfect gift exchange.
I had wandered off around the neighborhood yesternite while I lost my directions; I knew the place quite well already. I wasted no time heading back to the Amsterdam Centraal Station through all the small back-alley short-cuts. Since this is my first day-trip in Netherlands, I was prepared to be not so ambitious to explore a big city; so I choose Haarlem. I had about 20 min to wander around before the train for Haarlem arrives and I walked round the station’s shopping mall. This is where I walked into the pharmacy and saw a tin of Nivea cream selling for only EU1.99 (SGD4); I brought mine for about SGD6 at ICA, Lund. And I thought Amsterdam would be expensive.
Once I left the train station, I could feel the difference between Haarlem and Amsterdam. Haarlem train station was quiet, very quiet for a Netherlands’ train station. There were less cars than in Amsterdam. According to the guide book, the station is supposed to be an Art Noveau building dating 1908; I couldn’t spot anything archaic about the station, except, maybe, the stained glass. It might have been boring for some people, but I think I’m going to be surprised by the culture offered by Harleem. I went straight to the VVV Tourist Information Counter just on the right of the station when I come out, bought a map for EU2 and started myself on the wrong side of the town for the monument walk. A kind middle-aged gentleman on bike stopped and helped me with the map. I could feel the genuine friendliness of him; unlike people in Amsterdam who are always walking so quickly. There are very few marijuana “coffee shops” and you can read the history of the town from the cobblestone pavement.
The first major stop was to the Grote Markt, which is like the major square of this small town. I was taking some shots of the Gothic Sint Baro’s Church when it started raining. And I thought this rain would last. Wrong! This was the first time I will experience the unpredictable weather in Netherlands. The rain lasted only 15 min with strong winds. Even though it was 7 degrees Celcius, it felt very cold due to the rain and wind (Luckily my Marmot rain-jacket is always on me). I dropped my map on the wet cobblestone pavement and it turned wet and a little dirty. I had originally planned to visit the De Hallen Musuem Complex but the price is a little too steep for the small art gallery; skipped it in the end. I was a little disappointed that the Church was not opened; the interior would have been amazing. After this, I totally ignored the map and ventured in the town. Went to this windmill (how could I miss a windmill in the Netherlands?!) called Molen De Adriaan and then to the oldest museum in Netherlands: Teylers Museum, which I think is worth the fees of EU5.50. Lots of art work and science history stuff.
The Bakenesserkerk Church was another beautiful church which I passed by. No entry as the Sint Baro’s. The last museum is really a hard one to find: the Fran Hals Museum. A couple saw me walking up and down the streets of Haarlem and finally stopped me to give me the directions. See: the people in Haarlem are really kind people. This museum is another cannot-miss. It was originally an old folk’s home then an orphanage and then finally a preserved building for the Fran Hals Museum. Just a little background: Fran Hals is a famous painter during the “golden” age of Haarlem. The gallery in one of the exhibition halls was lavishly painted and depicts the transformation of Haarlem in history. Very very beautiful. Too bad photography was not allowed.
Yup, that’s it for the day at Haarlem. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant near the Haarlem station. I ate fried vermicelli with chicken for EU9. A bit expensive but decided to try anyway. It’s now 1700, still early for night-life in Amsterdam…
I toured the Sex Museum which is 5 min walk away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station. The idea of the museum is to trace the history of sex in different culture and history. I don’t think pornography is the idea but it is one of the themes in the museum. The exhibits are displayed in a straight forward manner and mannequins are used frequently. Real historical, cultural artifacts and documents are also on display and they really add value to the museum. But if you haven’t watched pornography, you might be in for a shock and I suggest: maybe go somewhere else. The price of EU2.50 makes it one of the cheapest and most-value-for-money (3 stories of exhibits!) museums in Amsterdam.
The next stop was the casino where I lost about EU5 on the roulette. It was an eye opener to see how much people can gamble. One personal lesson: gamble can never make you rich but it can entertain. Oh yah: the drinks are free. So even if you don’t play, go in and grab a drink from the attendants who are walking around with trays of drinks (A 500-ml Coke is expensive in Amsterdam: EU1.50).
Went back to hostel quite early: 2130. Had an early nite after writing this entry and the previous day’s.
(07/02/2006 Tues nite in the bed @ Stayok Stadsdoelen Amsterdam. Manual transcripted notes only in pen and paper.)
I woke up at 0645 to wash-up and everything. Breakfast starts serving at 0730 in the bar-cum-restaurant. It was a buffet: cornflakes, hard bread (it’s not a derogatory statement, the bread is meant to be hard), normal bread, cakes, hams, cheese, juices, coffee, tea, hot chocolate… I had a super-full breakfast just to prepare myself for skipping lunch later. I grabbed a small packet of honey so that it can give me an energy boost later in the afternoon. I met this Korean gentleman at breakfast, which I have no way of recalling the name. He was also traveling alone and just when I thought he was going to leave, he turned and gave me a traditional Korean mask keychain. Man, I was so disappointed that I didn’t bring my Merlion keychains with me. If not, it would have made a perfect gift exchange.
I had wandered off around the neighborhood yesternite while I lost my directions; I knew the place quite well already. I wasted no time heading back to the Amsterdam Centraal Station through all the small back-alley short-cuts. Since this is my first day-trip in Netherlands, I was prepared to be not so ambitious to explore a big city; so I choose Haarlem. I had about 20 min to wander around before the train for Haarlem arrives and I walked round the station’s shopping mall. This is where I walked into the pharmacy and saw a tin of Nivea cream selling for only EU1.99 (SGD4); I brought mine for about SGD6 at ICA, Lund. And I thought Amsterdam would be expensive.
Once I left the train station, I could feel the difference between Haarlem and Amsterdam. Haarlem train station was quiet, very quiet for a Netherlands’ train station. There were less cars than in Amsterdam. According to the guide book, the station is supposed to be an Art Noveau building dating 1908; I couldn’t spot anything archaic about the station, except, maybe, the stained glass. It might have been boring for some people, but I think I’m going to be surprised by the culture offered by Harleem. I went straight to the VVV Tourist Information Counter just on the right of the station when I come out, bought a map for EU2 and started myself on the wrong side of the town for the monument walk. A kind middle-aged gentleman on bike stopped and helped me with the map. I could feel the genuine friendliness of him; unlike people in Amsterdam who are always walking so quickly. There are very few marijuana “coffee shops” and you can read the history of the town from the cobblestone pavement.
The first major stop was to the Grote Markt, which is like the major square of this small town. I was taking some shots of the Gothic Sint Baro’s Church when it started raining. And I thought this rain would last. Wrong! This was the first time I will experience the unpredictable weather in Netherlands. The rain lasted only 15 min with strong winds. Even though it was 7 degrees Celcius, it felt very cold due to the rain and wind (Luckily my Marmot rain-jacket is always on me). I dropped my map on the wet cobblestone pavement and it turned wet and a little dirty. I had originally planned to visit the De Hallen Musuem Complex but the price is a little too steep for the small art gallery; skipped it in the end. I was a little disappointed that the Church was not opened; the interior would have been amazing. After this, I totally ignored the map and ventured in the town. Went to this windmill (how could I miss a windmill in the Netherlands?!) called Molen De Adriaan and then to the oldest museum in Netherlands: Teylers Museum, which I think is worth the fees of EU5.50. Lots of art work and science history stuff.
The Bakenesserkerk Church was another beautiful church which I passed by. No entry as the Sint Baro’s. The last museum is really a hard one to find: the Fran Hals Museum. A couple saw me walking up and down the streets of Haarlem and finally stopped me to give me the directions. See: the people in Haarlem are really kind people. This museum is another cannot-miss. It was originally an old folk’s home then an orphanage and then finally a preserved building for the Fran Hals Museum. Just a little background: Fran Hals is a famous painter during the “golden” age of Haarlem. The gallery in one of the exhibition halls was lavishly painted and depicts the transformation of Haarlem in history. Very very beautiful. Too bad photography was not allowed.
Yup, that’s it for the day at Haarlem. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant near the Haarlem station. I ate fried vermicelli with chicken for EU9. A bit expensive but decided to try anyway. It’s now 1700, still early for night-life in Amsterdam…
I toured the Sex Museum which is 5 min walk away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station. The idea of the museum is to trace the history of sex in different culture and history. I don’t think pornography is the idea but it is one of the themes in the museum. The exhibits are displayed in a straight forward manner and mannequins are used frequently. Real historical, cultural artifacts and documents are also on display and they really add value to the museum. But if you haven’t watched pornography, you might be in for a shock and I suggest: maybe go somewhere else. The price of EU2.50 makes it one of the cheapest and most-value-for-money (3 stories of exhibits!) museums in Amsterdam.
The next stop was the casino where I lost about EU5 on the roulette. It was an eye opener to see how much people can gamble. One personal lesson: gamble can never make you rich but it can entertain. Oh yah: the drinks are free. So even if you don’t play, go in and grab a drink from the attendants who are walking around with trays of drinks (A 500-ml Coke is expensive in Amsterdam: EU1.50).
Went back to hostel quite early: 2130. Had an early nite after writing this entry and the previous day’s.
(07/02/2006 Tues nite in the bed @ Stayok Stadsdoelen Amsterdam. Manual transcripted notes only in pen and paper.)
# posted by William : 3:44 PM
