Recently in The Netherlands Category

The Dutch town of Haarlem is 15 minutes by train from central Amsterdam, and the unique experience it offers is easily worth the trip. Start your day at the 700-year-old Market Square (pictured), where the Haarlem Town Hall overlooks charming sidewalk cafes and vendors selling flowers, cheeses, and souvenirs. Then spend an hour or so exploring St. Bavo Church, a Gothic cathedral dedicated to Saint Bavo of Ghent, a 7th century holy man who spent his life helping the poor. Its 1738 Christiaan Müller pipe organ is so famous that Herman Melville mentioned it in Moby-Dick, comparing the "great Haarlem organ" to the "colonnades of bone" inside a whale's mouth. Continue on to the Frans Hals Museum, which not only contains the masterpieces of its namesake Dutch Golden Age painter, but also has a rich collection of Haarlem art dating back to the 15th century. For some inspiring 20th century history, drop by the Corrie ten Boom Museum, where the Dutch Christian helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II thanks to a secret hiding place in her house. Take whatever time you have left in your day and stroll merrily through the streets of the old town, grabbing a bite and a drink whenever you feel like it. It's what European travel is all about. Starwood has five hotels in and around Amsterdam, including the luxurious Hotel Pulitzer.

[image via Haarlem Shuffle]

Amsterdam-based Lucas Bols is the oldest distillery brand in the world, having produced fine spirits since 1575. While it's easy enough to order a cocktail made with Bols liquors and liqueurs at any bar in the Netherlands, it's more fun to go to the source of all the boozy goodness to see how it's made. The House of Bols is an interactive distillery museum in central Amsterdam where visitors can learn all about the science of distilling and the art of crafting flavors. Start out in the Hall of Taste & Smell, where you can sample the various flavors that go into genever (Dutch gin) and liqueurs, such as lemon peel and fresh juniper. You can even get an olfactory education thanks to 36 "puffers" (pictured) that impart the various notes that go into a spirit. Take a whiff and try to identify the taste that's wafting in front of your nose. Fancy yourself a flashy bartender? You might be able to mix a drink, but it takes flair to make a show of it. After a visit the "Flair Booth," however, you'll be juggling bottles like a pro. Of course, in a museum such as this, you'd expect a good payoff, and that's exactly what you get, as your last challenge involves creating your own signature cocktail and imbibing in the spectacular Mirror Bar. I don't know about you, but I definitely feel up to the task. Starwood has two hotels in Amsterdam, the Hotel Pulitzer, Amsterdam and the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center.

[image via House of Bols]

As the plane begins its final descent into Schiphol Airport, flower fields come into view. Striped with colorful bands of red, yellow, purple, and orange, this springtime landscape offers one of the prettiest views from an airplane window ever. Most of these hardy blossoms get shipped to florists, markets, and grocery stores all over the world, but many of them find themselves bunched together in fragrant bins at the Amsterdam Flower Market. I was there last winter, when Holland's tulip bulbs were still hibernating under the cold earth, but now that spring has arrived, the market is sure to be blooming with lilies and roses in every hue.

One of the wonderful things about the flower market is that in addition to cut blossoms, the tented stalls, lined up along the Singel canal, sell all sorts of seeds, bulbs, and a range of garden-themed gifts. When I was there, I couldn't resist the wax-tipped twig that's supposed to grow into a bougainvillea bush, or the tiny terracotta pots that come with poppy, sunflower, and lavender seeds. My friend Sam was able to bring back a bouquet of flowers for her mom. Not real ones of course, but the tiny painted tulips were undeniably Dutch, and fit easily into her suitcase. If you're hoping to bring back a heavier load, pretty much all of the vendors ship, so you won't even have to lug your crate of amaryllis bulbs back to your canalside room at the marvelous Hotel Pulitzer.

An interesting way to get a good look at a country's history and culture is by going to a flea market. One overcast Saturday morning last month, I found myself wandering among the two dozen or so stalls of Amsterdam's Noordermarkt, just off the Prinsengracht canal in the Jordaan neighborhood, a few blocks north of the exquisite Hotel Pulitzer. I rifled through beautiful old prints in chipped wooden frames of nineteenth century street scenes; sorted through boxes of tarnished teaspoons; and inspected a pile of soft vintage linens, finally making off with one lovely red and blue gingham tablecloth. It has a few holes, but not a bad deal for four euros. Haggling I found, is allowed.

Adjacent to this wonderland of traditional Delft tiles and 1970s fashions, a farmer's market offered beautiful loaves of fresh bread, jars of organic honey, and big wheels of locally produced cheeses - the perfect place to grab a few supplies for a canal-side picnic, in summer... but alas, it was still winter when I visited, and raindrops were beginning to fall. My friend found a pretty, white, never-used umbrella for just one euro, and I found a giant English teacup - my new favorite flea market treasure. What's your best flea market find?