A former resident of Harlem, New York, explores the original Haarlem.
Haarlem, the Netherlands, is part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area since its only about 12 mi (19 km) from Amsterdam. Haarlem has been a bedroom city since the 18th century. It’s historic center hasn’t changed much since the 19th century, making it a wonderful place to wander.
Jana Irving There are still some old grand train stations around the Netherlands.
Jana Irving Haarlem’s is a bit extra.
Jana Irving Haarlem doesn’t have as many other canals as cities like Amsterdam and Leiden, but the ones they have are still adorable.
Jana Irving Didn’t take me long to find a windmill, the 18th century Molen De Adriaan.
Jana Irving Horrible picture but this is an old prison turned into a multi-use building.
Jana Irving The interior of the Koepelgevangenis is a bit insane. It’s name means “dome prison” in Dutch. I guess that name fits.
Jana Irving The former cells have been turned into offices and such.
Jana Irving Amsterdamse Poort, the only original gate left from the city walls.
Jana Irving A canal/sail boat.
Jana Irving The River Spaarne makes the largest canal through the historic center. It’s hard to tell sometimes whether a canal is just a canal or an actual river.
Jana Irving The building with the statue on top is the Teylers Museum, the oldest museum in the Netherlands. I will be returning later in the day.
Jana Irving I will never not be obsessed with the houses that look like this.
Jana Irving Yep, still obsessed.
Jana Irving Cute street.
Jana Irving St. Bavo’s Church, the largest church in town.
Jana Irving That building is amazing.
Jana Irving St. Bavo’s from the front. While I was touring the church, a random rain shower popped up. It went back to being sunny shortly there after.
Jana Irving Now for the interior. Typical for a large Dutch church, there are box seating and a pulpit in the center of the seating area.
Jana Irving Dutch protestant churches tend to be fairly plain even if they were formerly a Catholic church. The organs are, however, so ridiculous that they look out of place. This one was the largest organ in the world when it was finished in the 18th century. Mozart played it when he was only 10 years old.
Jana Irving A very fancy rood screen.
Jana Irving I have no idea what is going on here.
Jana Irving The floor is also full of ledger stones (gravestones). This one only has a shoe on it for some reason.
Jana Irving Back outside to the Grote Markt.
Jana Irving I ended up in a neighborhood area. It was pretty peaceful.
Jana Irving Very similar to other buildings from the 17th century in Amsterdam.
Jana Irving Adorable.
Jana Irving Business area.
Jana Irving Simple but adorable town homes.
Jana Irving I love that the trees are still there.
Jana Irving The residents turned their narrow street into a garden.
Jana Irving Love these.
Back at the Teylers Museum. It was founded in 1778, and built behind the namesakes house, Pieter Teyler. Today the museum has fossils and scientific equipment in the museum section. The area that was once a house has more art.
Jana Irving How collectors and early museums displayed their fossil collections.
Jana Irving The next two rooms have scientific collections.
Jana Irving The Oval Room from 1784. This was the original part of museum. There is a mineral collection in the cases in the center. A library was constructed on the second floor.
Jana Irving Art galleries were added in the 19th century.
Jana Irving Teyler’s house has been incorporated into the museum. Artifacts and art are displayed throughout.
Jana Irving The house’s front door was the only way to get to the museum until a new entrance was constructed in 1885.
Jana Irving I love this staircase.
Haarlem is much chiller than New York’s version. Even with that, Haarlem has an insane amount of museums to choose from. The city is a great place to wander around as well. All and all, Haarlem is a great place to visit, and a lot cheaper than Amsterdam.
Check out my next update where I explore Delft, a city known for its ceramics!
or
Start at the beginning of this European adventure!
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