Haarlem fotos

A HANDFUL OF HAARLEM FOTOS:

This is a couple made famous by hardy defence of the city during its seige by the dastardly Spanish in 1573. He was in charge of said defence and she mustered a group of women for that purpose. I rather doubt either was as glamorous as depicted here. Or that she had the time to worry about her hair:-

Incidentally . . . the lady's first name - Kenau - is said in some brochure to mean these days a 'determined woman'. But my hosts assure me it's really the equivalent of 'bitch' in English.

Here's just a couple of examples of ages old architecture. More in a later blog, maybe:-

The town hall and Tourist Office

A building near the Town Hall in the main square

This is a memorial to the chap - Laurens Janszoon Coster - who invented printing by moveable type 40 years before Gutenburg. He's holding up a woodblock and pointing to himself in insistence that printing was his invention. Sadly, the rest of the world appears to still overlook his contribution. But he does get a few lines in Wikipedia:-

This is the huge organ which Mozart, Mendelssohn and Handel all tinkled on, as it were, in the Great-Church-which-is-large-enough-to-be-a-cathedral-but-isn't. It's dedicated to that well known saint, Bavo. Who gets even less in Wikipedia than L. J. Coster.

And this is a Spanish cannonball which has been immured in the Grote Kerk to commemorate the siege of 1573. Which has coloured the attitude of the Haarlemmers towards the Spanish to this day:-

FINALLY . . . . SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: In the house which I'm staying, there are 22 angels above the toilet. For a man, this can be a tad embarrassing when one goes for a pee.

Tomorrow - the city's tourist attractions.