Rerekuka's Travel Journal: Haarlem and Leiden, The Netherlands

Haarlem in the Netherlands was a wonderful surprise, with everything good about Amsterdam, but it was much more laid back and even more friendly. In fact, the Dutch even have a word for people who are fun, warm, and cozy: gezellig.

Haarlem also shares the Netherland's relaxed laws and attitudes about sex and some drugs. Right off the train, you walk past adult toy and other sex shops, as well as shops selling cannabis and mushrooms in many forms. Not surprisingly, there is a high percentage of frat boyage and other aged groups of men traveling together in this country.

We visited the Dutch Masters at the Frans Hals museum, which used to be an old men's home, then an orphanage. We toured the windmill shown above, and saw from the inside out how a windmill works.

We daytripped into Leiden to see tulips, but it was the wrong season for full blooms of local fields. I did learn, though, that the Dutch went into tulipmania in the 1600s, when the tulip was introduced to Holland by a botanist who found them in Turkey. Tulips became all the rage and were sold for outrageous amounts, making fortunes for some traders. Today "tulipmania" refers to an economic bubble.

St. Bavo Church in Haarlem was one of the most interesting churches we've visited, containing a gorgeous organ that was once played by Amadeus Mozart. The reformed gothic-basilica church, dating back to the 1200's, also houses contemporary religious paintings and sculptures. The "floorboards" are actually the stone crypts of the town's former rich and famous. Story has it that there was some high odor in the church for some time, with all those folks laying head to toe and mano a mano. But they were all gezellig about it, the dust has settled, and that time has long past. Today it is an interesting mix of old and new, and a serene energy permeates the place.

St. Bavo Church