Yesterday the sun was warm and we had high temps of 20 degrees C (68 F)!!! Wow! People were out and about in just sweaters or even t-shirts. It changes the whole mood of a country. OK, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. I took full advantage.
I went first to the gym (as you know – no shower at home) and then into Haarlem. I got my hair colored and cut. I can easily admit to the coloring part because it looks not at all “natural”. Remember Annie Lennox? ‘Nuf said. After that I did some needed shopping (new running socks, a birthday present for a 5 year old). This photo was taken around 1:30pm at the Grote Markt in Haarlem. When I was back there again at 6:00pm it looked just the same – everyone sitting outside in the sun.
After that I came home and thought about whether or not it made sense to go to the beach so late in the day, and if I wanted to go, how best to get there. In the end I decided, yes, I should go to the beach because it’s sunny and warm and it’s stupid to sit inside on such a day. I also decided to go by train to avoid the traffic. There are only very small roads getting to the beach and back and when there are a lot of people making the trip you can sit in a traffic jam for ages. Zandvoort is only 15 minutes away from Haarlem by train. Here’s a big tip for those of you vacationing in the Netherlands: if the weather is nice take a train from Amsterdam to Zandvoort. In only 30 minutes you are at the beach and can see part of this country that most tourists don’t bother with.
Unfortunately I somehow forgot my camera when I left the house. I know! How can that happen?! I only had my iPhone with me so these photos are not very good. I promise next time I’ll remember the camera. I got off the train, walked the 2 minutes to the beach and sat at a beach cafe for a little while. Then I walked down the beach a bit and eventually sat in the sand and knit on my squares for this event. By then it was already getting late and I had to meet DB back in Haarlem center for dinner. I took the 5:45pm train back to Haarlem. The last photo is of the platform in Zandvoort which became quite crowded with the beach goers heading back to town. It was a lovely day and I hope to repeat it again next weekend.
Where I sat:
These tractor pulling snack shacks drive up and down the beach selling food and drinks:
It’s a wide beach at low tide:
Zandvoort train platform at the end of the day:
