River and I got up before everyone else and walked to the store. It was a lovely short walk, and once again a fun adventure figuring out the food options.
We had breakfast in the back garden, which was lovely. There were grapes and blackberries growing.
Willow found a few moments for some top shelf lounging in the living room.
After breakfast, we decided to ride bikes to the train station instead of walking. The family whose house we rented said we were free to use their bikes. We had been warned (with good reason) not to try riding in Amsterdam, but we felt brave enough to try riding in Haarlem. The bike storage at the train station was an adventure too. We put ours on the second floor, on the top rack. This was easier once we figured out that the racks pull out and down to make them easier to load.
We went to the Dutch Resistance Museum. It was very informative, and although it obviously dealt with some heavy topics, it was not as difficult as the Holocaust Museum. We started in the kids’ section, where we followed the experiences of four children through the war. The kids were a boy excited about the idea of war, a Jewish girl, a boy whose dad was a resistance fighter, and a girl who was a leader in the Hitler youth group in her town.
There were re-creations of their homes, and memorabilia they kept from that time. There was an audio device you could tap in lots of places to hear stories from the kids. There were also tons of interactive things, like a window you could open to hear air raid sirens, and an illegal radio antenna you could spin to bypass German static to hear the queen. The museum has a bicycle from that era, which used a regular sized wooden wheel and one tiny rubber wheel because rubber was so scarce. They had ration coupons, but talked about how often there was nothing to buy with them.
In the adult area, there were sections where you could learn about different aspects of the war and the resistance movement. In the forgery area, they had a hands on activity to learn about how and why they forged identification papers, and actual tools from one of the most prolific Dutch forger. They had devices used to derail German trains, and the instruction book that explained how to use them. There were so many personal stories of incredibly brave Dutch people who risked their lives to save others. What surprised me the most was how large and well organized the groups were. Some had thousands of members.
We loved how easy and ubiquitous the public transit was in Amsterdam. Between walking, bicycling, trams, the Metro, and the trains, we really didn’t miss having a car at all.
We stopped at a famous place for Dutch apple pie, and had to try the cinnamon buns made with croissant dough across the street as well. We got pistachio, and sat down along the canal to enjoy our treats. I love that the pie is less sweet here.
We rode our bikes through Haarlem to catch a canal cruise. Our guide was entertaining, and it was really cool to see the sights from the water, and to rest our feet a bit. Haarlem is a beautiful old town.
During the walk and bike ride home, we went through the Haarlem jazz festival.
