In the land of windmills

No one will ever be able to claim that me and Ben aren’t overachievers in traveling. We got up at 1 a.m. to get picked up by a shuttle at 2 a.m. and arrive at the airport at 4:30 a.m. for our flight at 6 a.m. Luckily we went to bed early the night before, but with only a couple hours of sleep it was still a struggle to get moving.

Train from Eindhoven to Haarlem.

No this is not 1st class!

Countryside while on the train.

When we arrived in Eindhoven at 8 that morning we caught a bus to the train station to take us to Haarlem. Haarlem pronounced liked Harlem was our first stop in the Netherlands.

The best way that I can describe the Netherlands for my U.S. readers is this: imagine San Francisco had a love child with Seattle and then moved to Europe and married Venice and you have Haarlem/Amsterdam. The Netherlands is a perfect combination of Mediterranean attitude mixed with the organization of Northern Europe.

The main square with cathedral. 

Everyone enjoying their lunch outside. The weather
was beautiful.

Pretty building right? Guess what...it's a prison.
The Netherlands even makes their jails nice. 

For the first time in almost a year I saw people in shorts, t-shirts, dresses and no leather! The people in the Netherlands seemed not only to dress in lighter layers, but have a spring in their step. Perhaps it is the time of year we were visiting. Or is it just that people here are just happier and are like this year round? I can’t imagine a group of people being nice and friendly year round, but somehow in the Netherlands they seem to be pulling it off.

Signals of the windmill. They used the sails to communicate.

Haarlem is the quintessential Dutch city--perfect for those who love canals and windmills, but not crowds. We found the Malt Hotel easy enough, dropped off our bags and headed for lunch. We ate at a cafe in the main square that served sandwiches and other lunch items at a reasonable price. The Netherlands doesn’t rake you over the coals for food like some places in Europe...cough (Switzerland!).

After lunch we wandered around getting the lay of the land. We came upon a windmill and decided to visit it. We were instantly greeted by an old woman who runs the gift shop and told us that we could go on a tour of the windmill. The first part of the tour consisted of a video and then we met Leo our tour guide.

The tour started off with just me and Ben, but then a French couple joined. So Leo got the fun task of switching back and forth between English and French--and his native language is Dutch. Then another group of Americans joined the tour, but they didn’t stay for long because I have a feeling that Leo wasn’t to their liking. He was a sweet, goofy man, but perhaps a little long winded at times. During the tour Leo for some reason thought me and Ben were from Israel and introduced us that way to the other Americans.

Our tour guide Leo explaining the functions
of a windmill.

Ben took this picture for his Dad...inside joke. :)

We are constantly being asked if we are Dutch, German, Swedish, British, and now apparently Israelis. When we tell people we are from United States it seems to surprise them. Why? I don’t know, I think our accents are distinct enough (we are from Texas), but I guess we tend to blend in with other Europeans.

The windmill tour was entertaining and at one point Leo started climbing one of windmill sails and at another point told us how that the Dutch word bill (in reference to a hammer) is also the word for butt.

After the windmill tour we continued to walk around the city discovering cute shops, eating ice cream and enjoying the canals. When it was dinner time we found a Italian restaurant near the main cathedral. I’ll never get use to eating dinner next to a beautiful building like a cathedral. It makes the whole, “Your in Europe” experience come alive.

Last remaining castle in town.

Welcome to my castle.

I couldn't resist doing the typical tourist picture.

A park near the downtown.

Our first day in the Netherlands was a success in my opinion. We managed to stay awake for a full day of site seeing, not get lost and not get run over by any bicyclist in the mean time!

Walking was almost more dangerous than riding a bike.

I took this picture thinking...ooh what a pretty lamp.
Then I realized I was in the "red light" district
when I saw the woman in the window below it. :)

A cozy dutch alley.