Susan's NGTAW Blog: More Flower Fields at the End of our Day

Biking between Lisse and Haarlem - flower fields galore!

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Our group of eight gathered together at 4 PM to finish our bike journey for the day. We had ridden from Leiden to Keukenhof Gardens - a bit more than 15 km - and now would travel from the gardens north to Haarlem. This would take an hour to cover another ~15 km.

This area of Holland is known as the Bollenstreek - the area of the bulbs. We were pleased to be riding through even more beautiful fields than we had seen in the morning. The blooms will be allowed to develop for a week or so before being beheaded to allow the bulb to mature from the energy developed by the headless green plant.

Willem says that the farms employ many high school students to pull apart the small tuber splits that form along with the main bulb, which will be preserved and planted for future bulb development.

The white roof-line trim and spindles are typical of the regional houses and farm buildings

Working among the blooming hyacinths

The fragrance wafting over from these fields of hyacinths was enchanting

As we began to leave the flower fields behind, we traveled on a track that passed many large estates. Clearly, this is a wealthy section of the country. Willem kept pointing out "rural palaces" - which became "royal palaces" by the time it was repeated down the line of bicycles. We were left with the impression that the King had a lot of places to live!!

The roads were lined with tall and mature trees, and because the houses and estates were so large, great green swaths of gardens. This area had a number of lilacs and patches of honeysuckle. Not only was it green and lush, but it smelled heavenly.

We had a surprise as we biked into the city of Haarlem and headed to the center square. There was a large carnival spread out across the whole square - packed with rides and games and food stalls and hundreds of people. And it was loud - filled with the music of the rides and people screaming as they turned upside down, swooped downward unexpectedly, or otherwise were surprised.

In the center of Grote Markt, the statue of Lauren Jansz Coster

The center of Haalem is the Grote Markt, ringed with the Staidhuis (Town Hall), museums, and Sint Bavo's Great Church or Grote Kerk (built between 1400 and 1550. A large statue in the center of the Grote Markt depicts Lauren Jansz Coster, holding up the letter "A".

Coster, (1370-1440) was a Haarlem native who developed a printing press with moveable type around 1430. He was a contemporary of Gutenberg and is considered to have developed printing simultaneously to him.

Another famous Haarlem citizen is the "Hero of Holland" - the little nameless (and fictitious) Dutch boy who put his finger in a leaking dyke and saved the city.

Sint Bavo's Great Church in Haarlem

The juxtaposition of the carnival rides with the historic church is interesting

Streets of Haarlem, with Sint Bavo's spire in the background

We stopped to see the Corrie ten Boom Huis, now a museum, and featured in the book/movie "The Hiding Place." At this house, the Ten Boom family hid Jews and others from the Nazis. They were betrayed in 1944, and the family was incarcerated in Nazi camps. Only Corrie survived and she worked to help families surviving war atrocities her whole life. It is reported that more than 800 people were saved by the Ten Boom family.