Eten & Drinken in Holland

The Limburg Special in Maastricht

Many restaurants have "Eten & Drinken" under the name of the cafe or restaurant. It's one of the only Dutch phrases that sounds the same in English. On the night before we left Maastricht we went out for a last meal. This time I had the local Limburg sampler, a big piece of ham with mustard sauce and a black beef stew cooked in beer. Both were delicious. Kathy played it safe with a salad.

In the morning, as we left for the train, the weather had cooled down a little and we started to notice things, like this cute fountain dispensing clean drinking water. (At least that's what I thought "geen drinkwater" meant until I Googled it and found out "geen" means no.)

Kathy in Front of Sint Bavokerk in Haarlem

We got to Haarlem (close to Amsterdam, but smaller) in the early afternoon and went out for a walk. This is the main Dutch Reformed church on the main square. The red building to the right was originally the meat market, (vleeshal), the only place in Haarlem where fresh meat was allowed to be sold from 1605 to the 18th century.

Haarlem Vleeshal

The sheep and oxen on the facade all have a decidedly apprehensive expressions. While we were out shopping, we also came across a pizza restaurant that has the same name as the ministry that Kathy works for.

No, this is not that Back to Basics!

After a late lunch (too hungry to take pictures, sorry!), we rushed over to catch the last tour at the Corrie Ten Boom museum.

The Ten Boom Watch Shop

The Ten Boom family, who lived here in Haarlem, were active in the Resistance during World War II. They hid more than 800 Jews and others who were running from the Nazi's in this house over their family clock shop. After the war, Corrie, who survived the concentration camp where her sister died (her father died while in prison, before being transported), sold the business, but it still carries the Ten Boom name.

A poster in the window of the Ten Boom Watch Shop.

Next door and on top of the watch shop, the original family house has been turned into a museum with free tours in both English and Dutch.

The Corrie Ten Boom Museum.

The tour lasts about an hour and was very moving. In Corrie's bedroom room you can see the hiding place that they made by adding a false wall to her room. It could hold about six people standing up.

The hiding place in Corrie Ten Boom's room.

All of the six who were hiding there when the house was raided, and the family taken away, escaped. Five of them survived the war. We weren't allowed to take pictures in other parts of the house. We did notice our pastor, Chuck Smith's name in the program for Corrie's funeral service among the exhibits.

The Muller Organ

Once a week the church offers a free organ recital (at 8:00 PM on Tuesday). Because we arrived a day earlier than planned, we decided to go.

The Muller Organ

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about this organ:

The organ of the Sint-Bavokerk (the Christiaan Müller organ) is one of the world's most historically important organs. It was built by the Amsterdam organ builder Christian Müller, with stucco decorations by the Amsterdam artist Jan van Logteren, between 1735 and 1738. Upon completion it was the largest organ in the world with 60 voices and 32-foot pedal-towers. In Moby-Dick (1851), Herman Melville describes the inside of a whale's mouth: 

"Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes?" 

Many famous musicians played this organ, including Mendelssohn, Händel and the 10-year-old Mozart, who played it in 1766 (and who reportedly carved his initials into the back of the organ housing.)

The organ was indeed quite impressive. We got out around 9:30 and went out for a late dinner.

Pizza after the concert.