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20/8/2014 Paper The Underground The Hague | The Underground The Hague
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A UGUST 20, 2014
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Streets of HaarlemMARCH 26, 2013 BY THE UNDERGROUND THE HAGUE LEAVE A COMMENT
By Barbara Sirovnik
Sleepy early Monday morning. There is nobody on the street, not even a dog. Cold wind is mercilessly
cutting through narrow cobblestoned streets. Cats are sleeping on the inside windows of old Haarlem
dwellings. The nude glasses reveal the intimacy of habitats and I gaze, as I search for authentic historic
interiors. Each house has a different story to tell.
Sharp sun illuminates only certain parts of streets, creating angles of shadow that only a painter could
comprehend and I follow it as a guide through the rich, historical city.
I walk in silence and begin to notice presence of souls that have once, long time ago, lived here. They peek
from tiny windows nestled high in the skewed old houses. Engraved into the brick walls they seem never to
have left the city. It is in this silence that they come alive; I can hear their whispers, their giggles as they
peek and bend down to look at me…I start seeing more of them. In colourful clothing, some in black, with
feathers in their hats, warm smiles that reveal old, ruined teeth. They come from every corner, out of every
crow-stepped gable house. Some are drinking the koyt beer and laughing, others rush with canvases under
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Barbara Sirovnik Hata
their arms past me. There are those dressed in fancy clothing, and there are those that appear to be
farmers. In the corner, as if in weak candlelight, a few leper beggars appear and disappear. The voices
thicken, the lights redden and the sky darkens. Music envelops the streets; tiny bars crack open and the
city suddenly comes alive.
I walk on to Grote Markt. Nothing has changed since 1600. Here time has stopped. There are no signs of
modern age, of present day. People who come to live in Haarlem, penetrate those brick walls and become
quietly a mosaic piece in a continous past. Haarlemers do not intrude the city, silently as phantoms, they
adapt to its artistic, old, abundant character that remains unchanged and alive. Small, unusual arty shops,
hidden cafe’s, romantic restaurants, design ateliers, painting workshops, vintage design boutiques, and
authentic dance and music bars set Haarlem apart from any other modern city. It is a city with an old,
profoundly embroidered soul, which for centuries was bigger and more significant than Amsterdam, a city
that has named Harlem district in New York. Mozart played the organ in St. Bavo church, as a boy aged
ten. Frans Hals lived and painted in his Haarlem home, overlooking the Grote Markt. His tomb is today in
St. Bavo Church. It was in Haarlem that Laurens Janszoon Coster invented the printing press. His statue is
the one on the central market square.
The sun lights up the Grote Markt, and Haarlem naked as it is on this early Monday morning, shines in all
its majesty, exposing its invincibility. Haarlem is a city that cannot be robbed of its past, its history or of its
people that have lived here for centuries.
It is a city that remains untouched and immortal.
Barbara Sirovnik Hata graduated from Boston University in Psychology
and has since then lived and travelled many countries around the world.
Now she lives with her family in Haarlem.
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