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We got up early to do the last minute packing and tidying of the boat. I was sad to see Lily head back home, but excited to see what adventures were ahead. We parted ways at the train station, and as I navigated my way to the correct platform I couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Would I bond with my tour mates? I had studied this tour intently through other tour scrapbooks, would it live up the hype? Would I get off at the right stops? How hard would it be to find the hotel? As usual, I had nothing to worry about. I successfully got off the train in Haarlem and found the hotel, even though I took the long way.
The Hotel Lion d'Or graciously stowed my bags because my room wasn't ready yet. I was told that my roommate had also just dropped her bags and I just missed her! The anticipation was killing me. I was hoping that I would get along with her and that we would be a good fit.
Pro tip: don't be nervous about rooming with someone new on tour! As I mentioned before, Rick Steves' travelers are a special kind of people. You'll find that you have more in common with them than not!
With the bags taken care of, it was time to explore my home base for the next two nights. I found a cute little cafe, Blue Zone, right down the street from the hotel. I stopped for a coffee and something sweet. As I was sitting outside watching Haarlem pass by I had my first "pinch me" moment of the trip. I was out here making my lifelong dream come true!
The tour didn't officially start until 3 that afternoon. I didn't really have a plan for my free time in Haarlem, so I quickly made one while I was enjoying my coffee. I would walk to the square, see the church, see the windmill, and then go to the Teylers museum.
Haarlem is a tiny little town so I didn't have a hard time connecting all the sights I wanted to see. The main square was alive with people going about their business on a Sunday morning. The buildings were beautiful and there was so much to see. Being Sunday, I didn't try my luck on getting into the church. That will have to be for my next trip to Haarlem!
My walk then took me to Windmill De Adriaan. I was so excited to see my first windmill! If I had made a proper plan, I would've allowed myself enough time to climb it. Next time!
I had afternoon tickets for the Teylers Museum. This museum has something for everyone. There were lots of fossils, minerals, paintings, prints, and old coins. The building itself was amazing, too. My favorite part of the collection were the minerals and semi precious stones. My mother-in-law is a jewelry maker and has gotten me into collecting, so it was fun to be able to send her pictures of a fantastic collection.
Time for a late lunch break! I found another cafe near the hotel and snagged a seat outside on the sidewalk. As the sea of faces went by, I couldn't help but wonder if I was looking at my tourmates. I lingered over lunch and before I knew it it was time to meet the crew.
I made my way to the breakfast room at the hotel. Here were my people! Our tour guide was Paul, who had a lovely Irish accent and a great sense of humor. We introduced ourselves, set some ground rules, got our Vox systems, and picked our buddy. The buddy system is Rick's way of helping travelers keep track of each other when they are out and about. The way it works is simple: Paul would call "buddy check, lads!" and we would make meaningful eye contact with our buddy. This ensured that no one was lost or left behind at each place. It also made sure that our tour guide wasn't counting us like sheep!
The Vox system was pretty cool. This headphone system allowed us to hear our guides when we were on a walking tour without the guide yelling and causing a scene. The guide had the main Vox unit and could set a channel that we all tuned into on our own Voxes. As long as we were relatively close to our guide, we could hear them perfectly through our headphones. Pretty neat!
We had time to freshen up before our Haarlem walking tour and first group dinner. I met my roomate and we headed upstairs. We had a good laugh because our beds weren't separated yet. We were able to move them ourselves and I knew that we were going to have fun on this trip!
Our walking tour with local guide Martin covered a lot of Haarlem that I had seen earlier in the day but some that I had missed. That was part of what I loved about the walking tours. Even if I had seen something previously, I now had the context and history behind the places.
We saw the Corrie ten Boom house and Haarlem's teeny tiny Red Light District. The city took on a whole different vibe as the day trippers left and people were out taking a stroll before dinner.
We stopped just before dinner to do a Genever tasting. Genever is kind of like a cross between gin and whiskey. It's certainly not for the faint of heart!
For our first group dinner, we enjoyed a traditional rijsttafel dinner. Rijsttafel translates to rice table and has its origins in Indonesia, which used to be a Dutch colony. There were several bowls of meats, veggies, and rice served family style for us to sample.
Sharing a meal like this really helped us get comfortable and get to know each other. We were on our own after dinner, so I sat in the square and called my husband before walking back to the hotel. I had a feeling this would be an amazing trip!
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