Haarlem, Holanda

Dear Intervac friends,

Do you want to explore the Netherlands? Don't look any further. Our house built under architecture, is centrally located to visit Amsterdam, Haarlem and all other interesting places in the Netherlands. We are situated close to the beach; just an idealic bike ride away.

From our home you have easy connection with the highways (A9, A5) and the express bus service (direct access from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport). Bus stops at 500 meter from our house.

OUR HOME in VIJFHUIZEN (municipal Haarlemmermeer):

The house, built under architecture in 2010 has 4 rooms, a unique living with high ceilings, a fireplace and tv corner. In our kitchen you will find all modern kitchen equipment (steamer, cooker, grill). The brand new garden with deck near the water overlooking the sheep on the historical location (the defence line of Amsterdam called 'Geniedijk' gives you an extra holiday feeling. The garden is also a great place to bbq. We have three bedrooms and a study; all brand new. Next to our house there is a parc. A few hundred meters from our house, you have a golf course (called ‘Haarlemmermeersche Golfclub’).

About Amsterdam
In Amsterdam, just 10 minutes by car, you can discover something new each time, did you know that aside from 6 windmills there are 600,000 bicycles? In one of the 51 museums (for example; van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House). There is very much to see and enjoy. There is an open and tolerant atmosphere in the city. Amsterdam has a temperate climate with mild winters, cool summers and precipitation throughout the year. A good climate for the city makes it easy to visit throughout the year.

About Haarlem
Haarlem, with its attractive cityscape, is one of the most beautiful and oldest cities in the Netherlands. On biking distance from our home or by car (10 minutes) or the express bus (8 minutes). With 150.000 inhabitants, Haarlem is a pleasant and safe city situated on the river Spaarne. Haarlem has a beautiful, monumental city centre with many places of interest and a great variety of shops, cafés and restaurants. Moreover, Haarlem is traditionaly a city of art and culture. Just a few kilometers away lies the North Sea with its splendid beaches. All of this makes Haarlem a wonderful place to be. The Zuidtangent express bus , at 300 meter from our house, takes you within 8 minutes to the city center of Haarlem!

Haarlem has more than fifteen museums, which all house unique collections. For example, the Frans Hals Museum is the place to be for art originating from the Golden Age, and the Teylers Museum, dating from 1784, is the oldest public museum in the Netherlands. Among many other museums, Het Dolhuys (the National Museum of Psychiatry) and the Historical Museum are also to be found in Haarlem.

About Alkmaar (Holland's cheese town)

Alkmaar is above all Holland's cheese town. During the season from the first Friday of April to the first Friday of September a traditional cheese market is being held here on Friday mornings between 10 and 12.30. The cheeses are sold by dealers on a clap of hands. Thereupon the 400 year old cheese porters' guild goes into action, carrying the cheese off on barrows after the lot has been weighed at the Waag (the official scales). In the Waaggebouw - in which the scales are housed - a cheese museum that tells everything about dairy farming has been established.

Alkmaar is historical with around 400 monuments. The Waag, dating back in its earliest form to the 14th century, the 16th century town-hall, Grote St. Laurens Church and the many courtyards, facades and canals give the town an ambience all of its own. Learn more about it at www.livinghistoryalkmaar.com .With the past as a setting, the town has a modern stock of shops offering a wide choice. Besides the predominantly small shops in the old centre, the Noorder Arcade with large scale shopping facilities stands by the side of the Noord Holland Canal.

Nice places to the beach are Bloemendaal, Zandvoort, Bergen, Noordwijk, Katwijk, Wassenaar. And there are lots of places in the neighbourhood to bike, to walk, have a boattrip, to swim, to sail and shop in towns like Heemstede, Haarlem, Amstelveen or Alkmaar.

What is de Defence Line of Amsterdam?
Extending 135 km around the city of Amsterdam, this defence line (built between 1883 and 1920) is the only example of a fortification based on the principle of controlling the waters. Since the 16th century, the people of the Netherlands have used their expert knowledge of hydraulic engineering for defence purposes. The centre of the country was protected by a network of 45 armed forts, acting in concert with temporary flooding from polders and an intricate system of canals and locks.

The forts are the most visible and fancy part. But more imagination is needed to see the Defence Line as a circle of flooded areas and as a logistical system. But if you don't, you will miss the essence of one of the worlds unique human works.
Presently the forts are being used for various purposes, like wine trading, child care and sports hooting. Biking and hiking trails show the visitor through the green belt around Amsterdam, which exists thanks to the Defence Line, along forts on which volunteers give guided tours. Work is underway to establish three official visitor centres in the forts.
Even today the influence of the Defence Line is remarkable. The army is scarcely present but the country planning and infrastructure can largely be attributed to the Defence Line. Because of a special law, building along the Defence Line has hardly taken place and new rail and roadways had to run along the forts. The Defence Line was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 because of its value for all mankind. The view from our home is at this Defence line.
http://www.stelling-amsterdam.nl/english/forts/sloten/index.html

Fort near Vijfhuizen
One of the first concrete forts built of the Defence Line is Fort near Vijfhuizen. Completed in 1899 with an iron military shed from 1896, which is the only remaining one. To the southwest were two areas with shelters for troops retreating into the Defence Line. Behind the fort was the military tree nursery. Nowadays the fort is an centre for art and it’s houses a restaurant. The Fort is in walking distance of our home.

INFORMATION:
www.keukenhof.nl/en/
www.haarlemmarketing.nl/bezoeken/
www.vvvalkmaar.nl
www.zuid-holland.com/welcome.asp
www.amsterdamtourist.nl
www.zaanseschans.nl
www.denhaag.com
www.leiden360.nl
www.kunstfort.nl
http://media.centrumvanleiden.nl/files/brochure-leiden-stad-en-ontdekkingen.pdf

www.delft.nl
www.spaceexpo.nl
www.kinderdijk.com/
www.corpus-experience.nl