A Trip To Haarlem

One of my favorite cities in the Netherlands is Haarlem.  It is small, quaint and quiet, with a car-free downtown, beautiful churches and old buildings, canals, museums and hofjes (courtyard-centered housing enclaves, established in the 18th century, usually for low-income widows ands still maintained as housing for elderly women) like this one:

Haarlem is home to one famous museum, the Frans Hals Museum, but I was there to see the Teyler Museum, which is kind of a mix of science/natural history and art. 

They have a fabulous collection of rocks, minerals and gemstones (which my mother would have loved to see) and some artwork.  It's a small museum, takes about an hour to see, but worth the trip to Haarlem.

One reason for the trip was to meet a new group of people from "Meetup" - a museum-get-together-group - and here we are:
 

This was the day before lockdown and we were outside, having a quick coffee, before heading home.  I was glad I went and got the chance to make some new friends.  Hopefully I will see them again in the spring.

So, just a note about COVID and taking risks.  I have gotten my booster shot and have been inside my apartment for the last week, on my own.  Prior to that, I skipped a few gatherings at school and have not been in a public place for weeks (except to get groceries, with a mask on) because nothing is open - the Netherlands imposed a hard lockdown.  I feel pretty safe since the vaccination rates are high here, and going inside a public place requires that you show your vaccine passport. But once school starts, after January 14th, I'll be going out again and will have to navigate the COVID world.  It's a balance  - taking some risks for my own mental health and well-being, while also trying to be safe.  And so it for all of us.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.