Eurotunnel is Kim’s least favourite channel crossing and, after a series of delays and minor mishaps, there was much chuntering about ‘exactly how is this quicker than a ferry and better than Dover?’.
We are back in the Netherlands for a few days, after an early start, we checked into the Golden Tulip hotel, paid a small fortune to park the car and set out from Leiden to Haarlem.
A train and bus ride later, we were at Haarlem’s annual Luilak night flower market, a tradition dating back to the 17th century which remembers a night when the nightwatchman failed to warn the town of advancing French soldiers. Luilak, held on the Friday before Pentecost, roughly translates as lazy bones and the tradition is to make much noise to wake these sluggards up.
A couple of streets, either side of a canal in Haarlem are lined with flower and plant stalls, a few craft stalls had crept into the mix too. We were taken by the sight of a group of young men, playing poker, on a boat that looked like it had been nailed together from old pallets.
It typical Dutch fashion, the plants were green and lush, looking very much like they have been cosseted in greenhouses and much further ahead than they would be at home. Hydrangeas in bloom were big favourites as were showy bougainvillea. There were some beautiful, tender shrubs which we sadly walked away from their names quickly forgotten.
The big draw for the crowds was the grower, auctioning his stock from the back of a huge articulated lorry. Full marks to the driver for getting it down narrow streets. Specimen shrubs and huge perennials were snapped up at €10 a pop. His business model must work well, his Maserati was parked in front of the lorry and his pre-teen children, well past their bedtime, were doing the heavy lifting and all part of the show.
We sat on a terrace, outside an Italian restaurant, watching plants travel by. It was a joyous sight.
Finally, you can tell a civilised country by the state of its portaloos (Kim says that’s a well known fact!). They were spotless and, if you were cash poor, a wave of a card and €1 down, you had access to a spotless toilet.
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