The area around Haarlem is a wonder place to bike ride. In fact, the bulb fields that I crisscrossed so may times during March and April are not far from Haarlem. Last week I rode through the beautiful--and very wealthy--communities of Aerdenhout, Overveen, and Bloemendaal. The roads were lined with trees and ran past cow pastures, mansions with real thatched roofs, and vistas with St. Bavo's Church in the distance.
The mansion of mansions in these communities is called Landhuis Elswoud. Its grounds are so extensive and the renovation required for its three-story manor house is so extensive that currently the estate is unoccupied.
So the public can wander through the meadows around the house, feed the deer, attend wedding receptions in the orangerie pavilion, and hike through the forest.
Doesn't this look like a Monet painting? It could be called
Waterlilies Number 350, only without the lilies! It was a beautiful day at Landhuis Elswout, and the sun illuminated the ponds so brightly that you could see the leaves of the lily pads growing under the water.
There were also fields with sheep and goats grazing by the canals. It was such a peaceful, idyllic place. This is the kind of estate where you can go for a "walk in the garden" before dinner each day and not repeat the same trail for weeks!
Haarlem's network of sand dunes runs through Elswout, creating "veritable mountains" by Dutch standards!
Early spring foliage and a wooden bridge over the canal.
This is a view looking through the forest with the trees reflecting in the canal.
The next few pictures are also from the Haarlem area but several weeks earlier. This is a canal in the city of Heemstede lined with blossoming trees. Every now and again I remind myself that people actually live in these beautiful cities and sail their little boats down these canals!
These black water birds make their nests in the middle of the canals. A few weeks ago I saw little chicks with their parents, swimming around their nest like an island in the water.
The rhododendron flowers have just about finished blooming, but they were really spectacular while they lasted.
Traditional wooden windmills aren't used anymore in the Netherlands, bu there are still lots of them scattered throughout the country. They are carefully preserved and some are operated on a limited basis. This windmill in Haarlem dates from the seventeenth century. It is called the "Eenhoorn," or "Unicorn," and it cuts wood!
When the wind blows, an elaborate system of wheels operates this saw, and it cuts through the timber.
It cuts faster or slower based on the speed of the wind. There's a special emergency rope you can pull to stop the wheels in case your hand gets in the way! Somehow I think that even with the quickest reaction time, you would still lose at least half a hand!
Inside the windmill there are all kinds of beams that rotate as the wind blows. It's like being inside a giant clock. The force of the wind and the turning of all the wheels caused the building to shake continually. It was like a constant earthquake.
And finally, I also saw a reconstruction of Noah's Ark in Haarlem! A Dutch man decided to try to build the ark according to the specifications in the Bible, and here is his interpretation!
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