June 7 Utrecht to Haarlem
Utrecht was a super fun upbeat city. Hostel was quiet the first night and a bit noisy the next with lots of movement in upper floors and noise outside.. good for a few nights passing through etc..mostly there it's like little Amsterdam. Scenic, clean, lots of bikes, barely any cars, lots of restaurants and old buildings. After staying in the hostel I cannot see how anyone would agree willingly to stay in a room with strangers. Zero privacy..and lockers are super narrow.. big school group was there. Kids were all working on some project in the common areas with their teachers.. so it was a good atmosphere ..didn't smell any smoke inside. Today is the big mission conference..Eldon is taking a few trains and a bus to get there ..about 90 min on his own. We will meet him in Haarlem later.
This morning we went to a cute pancake place Anna's Pancakes in Utrecht. Then we had some time to kill and sat at the public library which is right in the center of Utrecht. Free bathrooms is a plus.. and lots of books.
We took the train to Haarlem. We made it without issue though we missed our train since we didn't have enough time to get to the other platform but another came in 5 min so no big deal:) much better than our experience earlier in the week.
Shopping..notice the toothpaste looking tube of mayo. There was a ketchup version too.
We are staying in Haarlem the next 4 nights. Super cute town.. trendy ish.. people all seem like they have jobs and I don't see homeless people . We are staying in an airbnb where a family lives and they went on vacation. It feels like the Dutch experience. Smart electronics, they have their mega bike outside that fits 2 kids in front in a jogging stroller attachment and a kid on a seat in back. We went shopping and stores are smaller but have the things one needs. Everyone is on bikes so they can't buy too much. Stores don't need to carry as much inside.
With shopping there are no bags given so you bring your own. We brought a few backpacks and got a weekends worth of food. We are very relaxed and enjoying this airbnb. Very homey. Great relaxing place !
Eldon had a great time seeing his missionary friends at the conference and seeing the last conference with Pres Watson as president. I am so glad he got to be here for that!
