Haarlem

 I think the very best Christmas present was my parent's offer to babysit so Bill and I could get away for a night. This was our first overnight in Europe sans kiddos. And while we love taking the kids everywhere, it was a nice change to be able to have a leisurely meal, not push our massive double stroller down cobblestone streets, change diapers anywhere and everywhere or chase 2 toddlers through ancient, serene churches.

We hopped on the train and headed to Haarlem, Netherlands. It's similar to Amsterdam, but smaller and more quaint. America's Harlem got it's name from here when New York was the Dutch colony New Amsterdam.

Our first stop was to visit the ten Boom House. The ten Boom family owned a clock shop in Haarlem which was run by the father and his two eldest daughters. They all lived in a house attached to the clock shop and for years during the Nazi Occupation they protected and hid many Jews. They had a secret room built in one of the bedrooms where they could hide 6 Jews at once. When the Gestapo raided their house on the 28th of February 1944, they did not find the Jews in the hiding place, but arrested the family anyway because of a suspicious number of ration cards. The father and eldest daughter died during their imprisonment, but Corrie, the other daughter, survived her time in Ravensbruck concentration camp. Her memoir The Hiding Place, which later became a movie, tells her families' story and of her great heroism. After being released from the camp she spent the remainder of her life telling her story and spreading her faith.

Entrance to the ten Boom house. 

At the age of 91 Corrie died in California on her birthday.

The ten Boom living room.

The secret hiding place that was built in Corrie's bedroom.

Entrance to the hiding place was a small hole in the closet.

After our visit to the hiding place we enjoyed the rest of Haarlem.

The Grote Kerk (Great Church) was built over a span of 150 years (1390-1540)

It is remarkable on the outside and the inside-

At the age of 10, Mozart played on this magnificent organ in 1766 during a tour of Europe. 

It has over 5,000 pipes and the lions at the top are holding Haarlem's coat of arms.

Ships like these helped make Holland the top sea-trading nation in the 1600s. These three ships hang from the ceiling. 

Grave of famous Dutch artist Frans Hals.

Big thanks again to my mom and dad for making this visit possible and for holding down the fort with 2 kids and 2 dogs! 

On a completely unrelated note, we found out last week that our request for an extension was approved, and we will get to stay in Germany an additional 6 months. We are thrilled for many reasons, but mostly because we are not quite ready for this adventure to be over!