30 July - 2 August We spent three nights in Haarlem. This city is now only a 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam, but it still has quite a separate history and character. We did quite a bit of walking around the city. On our walks we visited the new Cathedral - St Bavos As well as the original St Bavos on the big market square (Grote Markt). We also went to a small chemist's shop that had refused to sell out when a large department store was buying up land in the area. In the end the department store just built around it. But the shop still operates as a chemist and interior is very like it would have been back then. On Wednesday morning we cycled to de Cruquius, where there is the largest steam engine in the world, that was commissioned in 1849 and along with two other pumps, pumped dry the Harlemmermeer dry in just 3 years and three months. They said it could empty an Olympic sized swimming pool in just 8 minutes. It no longer works by steam, but using hydraulics they can show it "working". There was quite a lot of information about the development of steam pumps, and water management in the Netherlands as well as about the Harlemmermeer. They said that they drained the meer (lake) for safety, as it was slowly expading and threatening the cities of Leiden, Haarlem and Amsterdam. They sold off the new farmland to fund the process. We were interested that the cornish company that provided the pump charged them by pump cycle. It was a very interesting visit, and on the way home we cycled some of the way along the ring vaart (the canal along the edge of the polder) which is 5 m higher than the land in the polder (drained lake). Our mooring was close to one of the opening bridges so there was plenty to see. On Wednesday afternoon I counted 17 boats come past us through one opening of the bridge.
3 Comments
Richard
2/8/2018 06:00:01 pm
Thanks again for such beautiful pictures and interesting commentary. It is as if I am there!
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Lisette McCauley
6/8/2018 07:56:11 am
Fabulous. So interesting. We passed through there on a bit of a mission trying to avoid the mass exodus after Sail Amsterdam. It looked like a lovely place to spend time. You are doing great justice to the Netherlands.
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Atie Kuijten
11/8/2018 10:47:43 am
Love to see all that lovely pictures of the town I was born in. I live in Lelystad now and that is a different. Thank you, this was a sentimentel journey. groetjes Atie
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