Haarlem blooms

When the wet winters briefly fade away Dutch towns welcome the sun in full bloom, like rain in the dessert. Bloom: phonetically, the dutch word for flowers.

side street Haarlem, The Netherlands

One of the side streets of quaint Haarlem, what's it like to live in such an old town? A post card place with a house that hasn't turned into a souvenir shop!

Haarlem, The Netherlands

Inspite of the name's popularity 10 years of living in holland didn't make me wonder about the original Haarlem, thanks to an unexpectedly short appointment close to the city that left with the rest of the day in our hands we decided to "might as well" visit the New York district's namesake. It was a pleasant surprise. This dutch city should not hide behind the shadows of other quaint but more popular dutch cities like Delft, Edam, or Gouda, all famous for souvenirs and cheese, unfotunately the popularity of a basketball team from its New York counterpart has made the world forget where the real Haarlem really lies on the map.