Day 6: Hanging in Haarlem

From Rotterdam, I had every intention of heading to Amsterdam next. But my bank account had different ideas. It turns out that a Saturday night stay in Amsterdam is about US$200 more than a Sunday or weeknight stay, so I did a little research into towns outside Amsterdam and was recommended Haarlem "Hemp City" on several web boards.

Haarlem is really a charming little town, with a bustling town centre - the Grote Market, good examples of traditional Dutch architecture, great boutique shopping (ironically, the best shopping I have seen so far), more sidewalk cafes and diverse restaurants than you could shake a stick at and of course, a vibrant coffeeshop culture. I met a cool American girl working at the Subway's who travelled around Europe for a while then settled down in Haarlem and has been here for over 2 years.

Unfortunately, there's not much to do besides shop, walk around town (takes about half a day), and "take in" the local "culture" at the coffeeshops. So it's just as well that I'm only here for a day.

Haarlem soundtrack: none! It just didn't seem right to drown out this genuine town. So, I let the TaiPod have a day off and listened to what the town had to say.