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The Netherlands is a tiny country, just 252 km long and approximately  164 km wide and a population of 70 million. 

The Netherlands is a very flat country with more than a quarter of its land surface lying below sea level. Added to this landform fact, 50% of its land lies less than one metre above sea level. Its main airport lies 4.5 metres below sea level and is an excellent example of the engineering feats achieved by the Dutch through their ingenious windmill-powered system of canals and dykes which has made it possible to create more land surface through the clever drainage of waterways and swamplands.

Our ship did not go into Amsterdam because the Netherlands government is trying to reduce the number of cars in this city and has raised the cost of portage for ships so hefty a charge that Princess decided to dock at the Port Imujiden and bused passengers free of charge into Amsterdam which is about 20 km away. We however, booked a tour to Haarlem which is only about 25 kilometres from the port. Port Imujiden is a fairly busy port but we had booked a tour to Haarlem which is about 20 km from the port because we'd been to Amsterdam before and spent 5 days exploring that very busy city, filled with canals, dykes , windmills and bicycles galore. We'd really enjoyed visiting  the Van Gogh Gallery in Amsterdam at the time.  It has an extensive informative display of Van Gogh's works which trace his early art works and described his life story through a chronological journey-display of the evolution of his art styles right up to his death in 1890. During that visit we also visited Ann Franks House and Museum and were reminded how this young Jewish girl had lived during the dark years of Hitler's regime against the Jews across Europe in the 1940's.

This year we took a tour of the city of Haarlem - a mini Amsterdam with canals, dykes , windmills and bicycles but without the crowds and heavy traffic. We left about 8am by coach for Haarlem which was about a 30 minute trip. On the way we passed fields of grasslands with crops, small sheep farms and dairy herds. The Netherlands is famous for its cheeses, yoghurt and milk products. Amongst the farmlands clumps of forest trees were interspersed with windmills and some modern wind-farm operations. We passed the airport which was once a water filled marshland but now having been drained and filled with a solid base serves as an up to date airport.

Our plans for today were to wander through the old township of Haarlem, visit the home where Corrie Ten Boom lived (it is  now a museum), lunch on some local fare, go for a canal cruise around Haarlem and have a tour of a working windmill.

It is to be a relaxed day for us as we have plenty of time to explore Haarlem and complete all the activities we have planned to do. The coach dropped those planning to explore Haarlem, at a meeting up point where we'd rejoin the coach for our return trip to the Sea Princess later in the day. The rest of the passengers who stayed aboard the coach were continuing on to Amsterdam to spent 5 hours exploring this large and very busy city. Our biggest worry was not being run down by bicycles of all sizes and configurations as most people travel around Haarlem by bicycle but we were on foot.

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 Is built upon sandhills with a national park on one side and reclaimed lowland on the other. The Spaame River which flows through this small city-town has a network of canals and dykes that are used for transporting people and goods around the city and for leisure activities. Like most of the Netherlands Haarlem is a very flat city with no hills so most people ride bikes or walk around its narrow cobbled-stone streets. Being summer many of the homes and buildings had hanging baskets of flowers and even mini gardens of colourful flocks, petunias and violets. I had hoped to see tulips but maybe we'll see these later in the day.

We found it relaxing, interesting and easy to walk around. We loved looking at the old buildings and walking along the narrow cobbled streets filled with all kinds of shops with fresh produce or small cafes and all kinds of merchandise. We stopped at a fresh food market and bought some bread rolls with ham and cheese fillings and some fresh oranges which we planned to eat later in the day after we'd explored more of the old Town area. 

We came to an ancient square in the middle of the Old Town of Haarlem. All the buildings around the square were amazing and were hundreds of years old. Australia's history is so young in comparison! Look at the red brick building behind me in the photograph of the square. It is a typical  Dutch design with its stepped facade and spinneret decorations. Usually the square is filled with market stalls through the week but we were too early in the morning to see them. We could only imagine what a busy market place it would usually be so we continued on through the cobbled streets until we came to a building on a corner of a maze of narrow laneways. I recognised it as a building I'd seen before and it turned out to be the shop that was once the home of the ten Boom family. It is now known as the Corrie ten Boom Museum.  We were booked to visit this museum later in the morning (It's a good idea to book on line ahead for this free tour as only 15 people per I hour tour can attend and we saw people lining up hoping to be let in if the numbers were less than 15) The reason I recognised was that I had seen a picture of it on YouTube and from pictures in the book, "The a hiding Place" when I read about Corrie's  life story several years ago. We found Haarlem so relaxing to wander around because it is so flat with miriads so of canals with passing barges, tour boats and other watercraft. There were many cute bridges to cross the canal networks ans because there are less cars the town is peaceful and quiet. I came across a bike and had to have a mini ride just like a local. 

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At about 11 we returned to the Corrie ten Boom Museum for our scheduled tour.  I stood outside of the shop that had been the ten Boom family's clock and watch shop since 1837. The ten Boom family were a Christian family who live out their life serving others and their home was always open to anyone in need  because they live out their faith by loving and helping others.  They were most active in doing social work in the town of Haarlem  and their faith inspired them to serve both the church and society at large. 

During the Second World War their home became a refuge for fugitives and hunted people.  They practised non-violent resistance to the Nazi oppresses and a great risk they head many Jews and students who refused to cooperate with the enemy. All the family were involved in helping save Jews and other people and they worked with the Dutch underground resistance movement.

We sat in the lounge room where the family met each week to hold Bible studies with their church family but this room was also used as  A place of refuge for those playing the Nazi oppression.  It was a strange feeling sitting in the fairy room where Jewish people have hidden during the war and where they have been protected from Hitler's gangs of Gestapo who hunted down Jews.

The family hid refugees in their home until it was 'safe' to smuggle them to other families. The ten Boom family  created a secret room behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom. Ken and I stood in this narrow space and tried to imagine how scary it would have been to have been behind the brick wall knowing that powerful cruel men stood on the other side. 

Even crawling through the narrow opening at the bottom of the cupboard we found was difficult and then to stand in the narrow space behind a brick wall would have been claustrophobic. Today a section of the wall has been cut out so that people can appreciate the narrowness of this hiding space.  This area could hold up to 6 adults  standing side-by-side. There was usually a bucket and some small food and water supplies to last a day or two if refugees  had to spend time there  hiding from the Gestapo.

On February 28, 1944, family was betrayed to the Gestapo and the house was raided by the secret police.  Six members of the family and almost 30 friends were arrested and taken to prison.  Casper, Corrie's father (84), Betsie (59) and Christiaan (24)  died as prisoners, while Willem (60) died after the war. The Gestapo did not find the 4 Jews and 2 members of the Resistance hiding in the secret room.  However, the refugees had no food or water because it had not been placed there that day when the sudden raid took place. Fortunately, other Resistance members were able to free the hidden refugees after for 2 1/2 days and all of them survived the war. 

Corrie and her sister Betsie were taken to Ravensbruck concentration camp where they were badly treated and had to do hard labouring work outdoors in all kinds of conditions. Carrie was able to smuggle a Bible into the camp and she comforted many ill and dying women in the camp with the message of the gospel and God's love for all people. Betsie died in the camp but Corrie survived the long hard years with God's Word as an encouragement to her and a reminder that in all circumstances God works for our good. 

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After the war, Corrie travelled around the world telling people about the love of God in spite of the wickedness of Hitler. In 32 years she visited 64 countries to testify of God's love.  She testified to the fact that Jesus Christ is the victor over all and everything, even the misery of the concentration camp. Both Jews and Christians are thankful to the ten Boom family who lived as Christian by grace and in obedience to the Lord they risked and gave their lives to save others. They knew the saving power of Jesus' death and resurrection and wanted to live it out and share the good news of the gospel to others. The ten Boom museum is more than a memorial it reflects the spiritual strength and active life in faith through the sharing of their story by museum volunteers and the exhibiting of  documents, photographs and other memorabilia that tell what God did through this family.  

The older fellow volunteer guide took us from room to room in the ten Boom home set above the clock shop. It has narrow curved stairs leading up to the lounge- dining room with a small kitchen area. On the second floor were 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and on the third level there were two bedrooms, a study and bathroom. Way at the top was Corrie's bedroom with the  the secret space behind a false wall so we knew how fast the refugees would have to move when they were in the lounge- dining area. A buzzer would be sounded from the watch shop when Gestapo or other dangers were present. Our guide also spoke about the faith of the family and their trust in Jesus. He too testified that trusting in Jesus is the way to forgiveness and eternal life. He asked Ken to read a poem about God as the author and creator of our lives, in the study at the end of the session. Ken read it well and we have a copy of it if you would like to read it. It is titled, "The weaver".

One of the items which played an important role during the time when the ten Boom house was used to hide refugees, was a red triangular clock that was used as a signal to indicate if it was safe to enter the watch shop to seek help. If it was safe the clock face was displayed in the window. During unsafe times the back of the clock was displayed. There were also many photographs of the family, their letters and other items used in the 1940's.

Corrie ten Boom also wrote books about her experiences and her faith and trust in God. "The Hiding Place" not only became a best seller, it was made into a movie of the same name. It traces the lives of the ten Boom family members, in the quiet years before WWII and their with the "underground" in helping save the lives of countless Jewish families.

Corrie even met one of her cruel prison guards some years after the war. He had become a Christian and asked Corrie to forgive him for his cruelty to her. Corrie says in her book that at first she felt anger and disdain but knew that she needed to forgive him. She admits it was only when she remembered all that Jesus had forgiven her that she was able to look him in the eye and say "I forgive you" and mean it. She wrote, " Immediately I'd said those words, a peace I had never known came over me and I hugged my once torturer and loved him as a brother in Christ" only Jesus could have given me that peace and love which passes all understanding.  I can testify too that when we forgive it is so freeing.

Well this was such a good museum experience for everyone who attended. Everyone clapped and thanked our guide.  Some people have never really known the complete story of ten Boom family's life and they were amazed at their faith in the most difficult of circumstances.

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Following our Museum visit we sat under the shade of a tree at the edge of the square we'd entered this morning because it was quite warm by this stage and we ate our sandwich lunch, all the while talking about our visit to the museum which was such a blessing. 

We next retraced some of our steps and went to visit the St  Bravo's Church which we had seen earlier in the day when it was closed. We'd also seen its steeple resplendent in the midday sun, from  various points around our town walk and we walked past it too. It is an important landmark for the city and have dominated the city skyline for centuries.

It is a reformed Protestant church and a former Catholic Church located near the Central market Square.  It's been the main Church of Haarlem after renovations in 15th century in the middle of the Protestant Reformation.  Most people refer to this cathedral as the Big Church since Protestant churches in Haarlem are not named after saints.

The church has gone through many renovations and extensions do restorations over the years. Some of these renovations were due to a fire started by a lightning strike, other fires and the stain glass windows suffered through neglect over the years.  There are only a few original stain glass windows that have survived and the original stain glass window that stood in a window behind where the pipe organ is housed has been lost (though there is a painting of it) because the window was bricked up when the pipe organ was installed in 1663. 

The church is huge: 108 metres long, 47 metres wide and the height of the  nave is 29 metres. The tower is 76 metres high and up until 1919 the tower was used as a sentry box for fire-watchers of the city. Red flags were waved if a fire was spotted and the guards in the main guardhouse of the city would react. In 1930 an automatic sprinkler system was installed in the church tower and it can extinguish a fire 70 metres high in the tower.  

The interior of the church has changed little over the years except that it has been re-painted many times by local painters.

The floor of the bravo church consists entirely of gravestones.there are 1500 gravestones all together and the oldest gravestone dates back to the 15th century.

The massive Christian Muller organ was constructive in 1735 to 1738.  It have 5068 pipes and is almost 30 metres high. The longest pipe is  10 m long and it has an impressive sound. In 1756 Mozart, who is 10 years old, played this organ and G.F. Handel also played this organ. The organ went through a long restoration between 1959 and 1963 and the cost was very high. The cost of many places of worship throughout Europe and even in Sydney is what we pay to retain history so churches. Need to raise funds by changing entrance fees from tourists and other visitors. Along both the length of the cathedral's outside walls a series of small cafes and shops have been built. This is one way of meeting the expensive upkeep costs of this very old building which has a wonderful history to tell.

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Our next venture was to go on a canal ride. We'd seen many people throughout the morning enjoying these trips and so we are looking forward to this ride. There are many canals in this town but we were just covering the main canal that encircles the city centre and it promised to reveal a good view of the city.

We had booked this canal trip on the Internet and so we took a leisurely walk across town until we came to the meeting spot. Many of the canal boats have glassed in cabins but when our canal boat was an open boat and we were glad because we knew we'd get a better view. Once aboard we were offered cool drinks which was good because the afternoon was proving to be quite warm. 

Our driver showed us a map of the route we would be taking and also explain that whenever we came to a bridge cross the canal we needed to remain seated so that we didn't lose our heads if we stood up. 

We had a beautiful afternoon relaxing in the boat, listening to the commentary that our driver gave us and enjoying the breeze as we travelled along the canal.  Several boats passed us and we waved hello to one another. We also saw boats laden with parcels being delivered to various shops around the town. Sometimes we saw teenagers travelling together on rubber duckies with small outboard motors. They were having a great time and were sticking to the speed limit which keeps canal travel safe. Our driver told us that the water police check on boat speeds regularly and that the fines are very high. We passed moored live-in barges which are a cheaper way of living for students and others because rents are very high in Haarlem due to a shortage of housing. Besides that some people like barge life and can dock in town during the week and head off into the countryside for the weekends for a festival, fishing trip or just a change of scenery.

An unusual church building took my eye so I included it in my photos. There were also many other sights but too many to include in our blog.  During the canal boat trip I felt quite ill and lay down on Ken's knee and along the boat's bench seat.  It was the beginning of  viral infection but I didn't know it at the time.  One of our fellow passengers was very kind and put a cool rag around my neck to know my fever. Then she covered the rest of my body so that I wouldn't get sunburnt lying in the sun for the rest of the trip. How kind of Hazel to do that for me. I was very grateful to her for her practical help. 

However, we did pass an old windmill towards the end of our tour and it turned out to be our next excursion activity so  because I wasn't feeling well we got off at the mill spot so that I didn't have to walk back to it. The rest of the passengers decided to join us too to save their legs. 

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We were a little early and had to wait for our tour to begin so I lay down on a bench seat and slept. After about 20 minutes I found I had enough energy to do the tour. The windmill was fascinating to explore. Our guide was an elderly gentleman who had once worked on the mill which used wind power to grind wheat seeds into flour. The windmill had been constructed in timber over 100 years ago and it is still functioning. The tour begin with a winding staircase which lead up to the first floor . There were five floors altogether in this huge windmill and to get to each level we had to climb ladders with wide wooden rungs. There was no safety rope, we just climbed- this wouldn't be allowed in Australia today.  However, no one fell and we all manage to reach each level safely. On each level our guide gave  very detailed information about the history of the mill and then demonstrated how each of the inner workings of the windmill functioned. 

It was very interesting and just watching how the wooden cogs fitted so well together, was amazing. We even got to see some grain being ground and watched the flour dropping into bags. Finally we reached the top open deck level of the windmill where we had a 360 degree view of the area around the windmill and the canal. We also got to see the size of the huge arms of the windmill's blades.

Carefully we descended the wooden ladders and arrive back on the footpath. This was our final excursion for the day and we headed  back to our meeting place where our coach met us and drove us back to the Sea Princess. As soon as I reached our cabin I climbed into bed thoroughly exhausted. 

I was to spend the next six days in isolation in our state room with visits to the doctor on board the ship and meals being delivered to my room. I slept a lot but was very unwell and I missed four port visits over the insuring days.  Ken went on the port tours and returned each day and shared his photos with me so I feel I've had a clayton's visit of these four Ports.

Ken  is going to write up the blogs for the next four ports