Haarlem is a mere 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal Station… so it’s ridiculous that I haven’t visited this charmingly picturesque town until now (OK, there’ve been one or two gigs attended in Haarlem but night time gigging visits to a town don’t count – it’s dark and you have a singular purpose, so there’s not much opportunity to get to know a place).

What struck me most about Haarlem was the abundance of ancient mellow brick work (in a wonderful range of glowing oranges, warm russets and ochres), and lots of pleasing architectural lines and angles.

For someone whose favourite complementary colour pairing is orange and blue visiting Haarlem on a sunny, bright-blue-sky day (Thursday… not today which has been a monotonous shade of dark grey from sunrise to sunset) was a real visual treat!