Haarlem

At last winter has arrived. It is very cold indeed, temperatures staying below zero during the day, and a strong north-easterly wind. Snowdrops have shrunk away, my hellebores which were in full bloom, have bent their open flower heads to the ground, shrivelled up. I wonder if they will survive. Without snow and just a freezing dry cold, it might be difficult. But at least we have blue skies and sunshine! Very nice to know the sun is still there! We had almost forgotten what it looked like.

     I went to Haarlem for the day. Haarlem is attractive any time, with its old city centre, its quaint and ancient houses, the beautiful Market Square with the St. Bavo Cathedral in the middle, famous for its pipe organ. In the Market Square we also find the statue of Laurens Janszoon Costers who is proudly showing off on his pedestal, the Dutch inventor of book printing. If he really was the first, is arguable. But in Holland he is considered to be the first. Haarlem also has many small specialist shops and boutiques. Of course there are all the chain stores as well, but designers, photographers, have boutiques here. There are quilt shops with surprising cutters, scissors, patterns, etc., a treasure trove of paraphernalia.  Cookware shops, photo shops, shops with design furniture, specialists shops in coffees and teas, etc., they can all be found in Haarlem. Via this site one can download walks along monuments and almshouses and other places of interest. The pdf files are available in Dutch and in English. Click here for the site for English speaking visitors

 One of the almshouses

The museums are among the main attractions. This time I headed for the Frans Hals Museum – distracted on my way there by interesting shops – to see an exhibition of paintings from the Golden Age, each of them depicting some merry feast: 'Sinterklaas' St. Nicholas, festivals, al fresco dining and banquets of the civic guards. It seems that some of the feasts lasted for days on end and drunkenness was common. So many of those feast were forbidden by the then protestant local authorities which considered them sinful and a waste. There is a remarkable difference in style between the feasts of the common people, the farmers and workmen, and the rich and famous. And that doesn't only apply to the way people dressed, but also to their behaviour. The building, a former old people's home and later an orphanage, is in itself very interesting and worth a visit even if there is no special exhibition. Unfortunately it was too cold to sit in the garden in the courtyard, but I managed to take some pictures through the glass doors.

 Festive table in the museum with food and tableware similar to what we can see in some of the paintings exhibited.

On my way to the museum I passed the local, or rather provincial, Archives. They are housed in an unusual building, the former church of the Order of St. John (Johanniter Orde), a protestant order, the Maltezer order. They were related to the medieval Crusaders to the Holy Land. They built an abbey here, with a graveyard, orchards etc. The only thing that remains is the church, which was eventually converted into a protestant church and now houses the Archives. Although in use as a library and archives, the original plan of the church has not been ruined, which is great. Unfortunately the website explaining the history of the church is in Dutch. The English pages only give information about the archives: opening hours, contents, etc. But there is a very interesting  virtual tour of some of the historical rooms in this building. And one can download a folder in pdf format about the church. Behind the church, where the orchards used to be and the rest of the abbey grounds, one now finds narrow streets with interesting old, gabled houses.

Behind the St. John church. The name 'Korte Wijngaardstraat' refers to the vineyard which used to be here.