Guus Bosman

From Ghent we took the train to Haarlem, the city where lived until we moved to the United States. It was the first visit for Sasha in 10 years and to walk together through the city was amazing, from the very first moment we got off the train.

We saw the completion of several infrastructure projects that were in the early stages when we left a decade ago: the Raakskwartier, the Appelaar parking garage at the Grote Markt and the car-restrictions on many additional streets in the city, including at the station. It was like a jump in time.

We had dinner on the Grote Markt at a tapas place we have good memories of and it was delicious. The owner changed eight years ago, the waitress told me, but the food was still great. I had a Jopen Adriaan beer, very good.

We were lucky and there was a Bach concert in the Grote Kerk that same night. To be honest, I bailed out after the first song. It was beautiful but listening to a whole concert was a little too much, so I went to Den Uiver and had a nice beer there. They also have a new owner -- a nicer guy than the previous one -- but the atmosphere was still the same.

We stayed in an excellent bed and breakfast at the Zijlstraat, a few minutes from the Grote Markt. The location was great, it made it easy to go back to the room to change diapers. Sasha and I had poffertjes.

The next morning we met my parents at the Appelaar and we walked to the Grote Markt where we had coffee together. After that, we walked to the Adriaan and the Hooimarkt. It was special to be back there. After lunch Nora went to take a nap.