Between the hustle and bustle of the flower parade and the quietness of a canal nearby, we chose the second option. This, of course, after having seen all the flower installments placed in Haarlem`s Grote Markt and having drunk a nice white bier at one of the terraces nearby.

There aren`t too many things to differentiate one Dutch city from another (Dutch) one. There will be canals, there will be bridges, there will be cute little houses and there will be brick roads all over the place. Add the boats, the bicycles, the blonde children, some seagulls and some ducks and here you have a typical Dutch city! In most cases, it will have a main place called Grote Markt – where the church, the city hall and most terraces are located – a shopping street and a train station conveniently located at walking distance from the centre (where the Grote Markt and the shopping street are). It is simple, functional, safe, clean and, in addition to all these, people will smile to you for no reason and you will learn to smile back to them.

Haarlem is one of these cities – some 20 minutes North of Amsterdam – and, as you may see from the photos above, it is quite a nice place to spend a sunny day like this one!