Day 81: Sat 6 Sep - Haarlem

11-22 deg C, a lovely sunny day, with no wind 

Walk G: 16km; total: 634km

Walk W: 13km; total: 524km

After breakfast, we caught the train to Amsterdam and spent the better part of the day wandering around, despite it being our least favourite city in Europe. We have been here several times because it is a convenient airport for flying out of as they have great cycling facilities and it’s easy to buy a bike box and get it ready to fly home. After today it has well and truly cemented itself as our least favourite city. There are some very nice areas, especially around the harbour, but it’s all teeming with tourists. The cruise ships call in also so large groups of them often completely block the city’s narrow streets and lanes.  

The number of coffee and reefer cafes (marijuana smoking dens) in the city have probably quadrupled since we last visited, to the extent that there’s just about nowhere to go without taking in secondhand dope smoke. If you’re sensitive to cigarette smoke then dope smoke really gets up your nose. There are also people wandering along smoking dope so you get it real up close and personal. There are more homeless people in the city than we’ve seen anywhere. Is this the result of the government’s relaxed attitude towards drug use overall? 

There’s also a sad situation that has arisen since our last visit here, as far as the hundreds of rubbish bins go. Every night each piece of garbage is removed from every bin and spread out on the footpath beside the bins. We also saw this in The Hague for the first time. After some searching we discovered that “The problem is that plastic bottles and cans are worth money, so homeless people search in bins for them and take all the trash out but don't put it back.”Regardless of the reason it looks terrible in the morning. You can imagine walking around the city with the trash removed from every bin and spread out on the streets and footpaths. Of course once the humans are finished, the seagulls and other creatures descend onto the rubbish to scavenge and scatter it everywhere. And if you’re a bit of an early bird like us, you’re out well before the council workers have had a chance to clean up the mess. We were still in the city around midday and they hadn’t even got halfway through cleaning it up. 

We stopped for mornos at Maccas and lunch at what Greg thought used to be his favourite in Amsterdam (V&D) but is now a HEMA store. No fresh food court but a cafeteria. Never mind, we settled for sandwiches and a cold drink there anyway. Walked back to Central via NEMO, a science museum but elected to just view the outside; it is kind of like Questacon in Canberra, great for children. 

Back at the hotel we had a little rest and discussed activities for the next three days without making a firm decision; will wait and see what weather each day presents before deciding. 

Wandered to a different branch of our new favourite supermarket, Albert Heijn, for dinner supplies and consumed them back in our room. The usual night time routine followed.

Haarlem station and our train to Amsterdam 

Same scene, 4 different perspectives - Amsterdam 

Royal Palace Amsterdam

Dam Square, with the Royal Palace in the almost centre

The national WWII Remembrance site

Manders Rokin fountain Sarah statue

Wonky houses in Amsterdam - really need to stand 

in front of them to see how far they are leaning 

Mint Tower

Originally part of the city wall, this tower was rebuilt in 1620 and features a carillon with bells. We did hear the bells and they sounded good.

National Opera and Ballet

A modern, custom-built stage for traditional and innovatively staged opera and ballet performances 

Canal scenery Amsterdam

Moses and Aaron Church (officially Church of St Anthony of Padua)

The hotel we stayed at, in 2012, for the pharmacy conference 

The Zoo is not far away from the above hotel, and we saw these beautiful pink flamingoes

Pretty!

Rembrandt Monument

The Thinker

The Passage 

NEMO - Science Museum

A bridge lifting up to allow a boat to pass through 

Maritime Museum

Rooftop seating on the Science Museum 

Some great old retired barges on display near The Maritime Museum 

The main part of Amsterdam Central Station

A former church, in Haarlem, now being used as a hair salon and a handyman shop, according to Google Maps

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