THE NETHERLANDS - Best of Europe 2014 - page 1366

10:00-17:30, Thu until 18:00, Sat 10:00-17:00, closed Sun-Mon; near station at Lange
Herenstraat 36, tel. [phone], www.rentabikehaarlem.nl ) .
Taxi: The drop charge of €7.50 gets you a little over a mile.
LocalGuide: Considerhiring WalterSchelfhout, abeardedrepositoryofHaarlem'shistor-
ical fun facts. If you're into beer lore, Walter's your guy (€85/2 hours, also leads a beer
walk sponsored by the Jopenkerk brewpub, tel. [phone], mobile [phone],
[e-mail] ) .
Best View: At La Place (top-floor cafeteria of the V&D department store—see here ) , you
get wraparound views of the city as you sip your €2 self-serve tea.
BestIceCream:GelateriaBartoli (onthesouthsideoftheGroteKerk)isthelocalfavorite
(daily April-Sept 10:00-22:00, March and Oct-Dec 12:00-17:30 in good weather, closed
Jan-Feb).
Sights in Haarlem
▲▲▲ Grote Markt (Market Square)
Haarlem's Grote Markt, where 10 streets converge, is the town's delightful centerpiece...as
it has been for 700 years. To enjoy a coffee or beer here, simmering in Dutch good living,
is a quintessential European experience. Observe. Sit and gaze at the church, appreciating
essentially the same scene that Dutch artists captured centuries ago in oil paintings that now
hang in museums.
Just a few years ago, trolleys ran through the square, and cars were parked everywhere.
But today it's a pedestrian zone, with market stalls filling the square on Mondays and
Saturdays, and café tables dominating on other days.
ThisisafunplacetobuildapicnicwithHaarlemfingerfoodsandenjoygreatseatingon
the square. Look for pickled herring (take-away stand on the square), local cheese (Gouda
and Edam—tasty shop a block away on Barteljorisstraat), french fries with mayonnaise (re-
commended old-time fries place behind the church on Warmoesstraat), and, in the summer,
stroopwafels (waffles with built-in syrup) and poffertjes (little sugar doughnuts, cooked on
the spot).
▲ Church (Grote Kerk)
This 15th-century Gothic church (now Protestant) is worth a look, if only to see Holland's
greatest pipe organ (from 1738, 100 feet high). Its more than 5,000 pipes impressed both
Handel and Mozart. Note how the organ, which fills the west end, seems to steal the show
from the altar. Quirky highlights of the church include a replica of Foucault's pendulum, the
“Dog-Whipper's Chapel,” and a 400-year-old cannonball.
To enter, find the small Entrée sign behind the Coster statue on Grote Markt.