MARCH 27, MONDAY

HAARLEM

The more we wander in Haarlem the more interesting and beautiful the town reveals itself to be. The first Airbnbs we looked at were on the edge of town, but the one we finally settled on, and the cheapest while still expensive, is right in the center of town.

Below our window is a bakery and right around the corner is a large grocery store and within a short walk our outdoor markets such as the one I photographed on Saturday. We have learned a few things about Dutch urban planning from Henny and Bertrand. As I understand it one plannng pattern is that, unlike in the United States, construction is very carefully planned by an urban planning board. Since the Netherlands is so densely populated every inch has to be thoughtfully utilized. Next to their house is a well constructed and still very useful large building housing artist’s studios. It is about to be razed and in its place will be built affordable housing. A certain number of the two and three story shoulder to shoulder houses will be offered to low income families. This is done in order to spread the often low income immigrants from Dutch former colonies overseas around the city in order to integrate them into Dutch culture rather than letting ghettoes of low income people form. It is also because this space is considered better for housing than artists’ studios, with the artists’ studios being simply located to other parts of the city. Along with urban planning are the carefully protected national parks all around the country so that everyone has easy access to wilderness areas such as the park at the edge of Haarlem extended all the way to the North Sea.

A river with drawbridges and canals run everywhere in Haarlem. Schiphol airport, very close by, one of the largest in Europe and built on reclaimeed land eleven meters below sea level gives them access to anywhere in the world only minutes away. We will fly from Schiphol next Wednesday.