Katina and Gary, and the question of moving here
I picked Katina and Gary up at the Hotel Okura at ten. They are American, here on a trip, but they're also thinking about moving to the Netherlands, and Haarlem is in something they're eyeing. So we made it three hours of walking and an hour of lunch at the end where I would explain what you could expect and what they should prepare for with such a move.
We took the tram to the Rijksmuseum, a great place to start the tour and we could at the same time get a feel for the Dutch Public transport system (and it saved us a long walk)
Outside the museum came the bicycle lesson! I always say: "Cyclists here will try to intimidate you. They pretend they have not seen you, but they have seen you, all of them. If you have right of way and the cyclist has room to brake a little, you cross, and you keep walking at the same speed". The problems start only when you hesitate". The general rule is, when they're moving fast and in numbers, stop, even if the right of way is yours. When you can get across before he reaches you, go, so he does not have to slow down. That is the whole thing.
Then the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat and the antique quarter, with a stop at Kramer Kunst & Antiek and at the pepernoten shop, where Sinterklaas and the Dutch origins of Santa Claus come up. The Bloemenmarkt and the tulip bubble of the 1630s. The canals and the merchants who paid for them. The Begijnhof, our first hofje. On Dam Square, the Beurs van Berlage and how the Dutch think about money; at the hidden Catholic church and the Oude Kerk, gedoogbeleid, and how a very practical people ended up with a reputation for tolerance. We closed the walk at the Waag, which has a farmers market on Saturday, then Rembrandt's house and the Holocaust Names Monument.
Lunch at Dignita Hoftuin, in a second hofje. That hour was the part they had really come for. I explained the Dutch healthcare system first: private insurers, but everyone has to be insured, you pay a premium every month, and there is the eigen risico before the insurer starts paying. Then income tax and the 30% ruling, the rental market and why buying often makes more sense, the BSN and DigiD, without which nothing here is possible. The Netherlands is famous for it's great (digital) infrastructure. I also explained how direct people are at work. Katina comes out of corporate communications, so she will experience that in her first week. Haarlem kept coming back: the same canals, much quieter, twenty minutes away.
We finished around two. They treated me to the cheese sandwich (classic Duth meal). Thank you! I told them they could call me anytime for more advice.