How exciting! Will be vicariously enjoying your trip along with you. Enjoy!

I hope things are sorted out here by then! Flights delayed, international and national trains not running. It's a bit of a mess at the moment.
Forecast is for it to warm up a tad so hopefully that will mean an end to the snow, though they say we will have a white Christmas.
It's snowing again now

Have a great trip Pal. Take care in Amsterdam on NYE, it can get a bit rough. How are you getting back to Haarlem? The last train leaves Ams on 31Dec at 19.57, and the first one on NYD is at 06.40!

What will be the bombastic part of New Year's Eve in Amsterdam- the celebration or the recounting of it?

Hetismij - i would have thought trains were running late so is a surprise and thanks for the tip - looks like New Years Eve in Haarlem and i believe i've heard it is also bombastic there - think Spaarne or someone who has been in Haarlem a lot said that - or maybe just stay up all night -have to check now when the first trains run to Haarlem on Jan 1. Anyway Happy New Year!

Tot ziens

NYE is bombastic everywhere here. WW3 breaks out on the stroke of midnight Have fun!

Palenque: sounds like a great trip. Looking forward to intriguing reports as you wander, with the hope that you survive NYE in Amsterdam or Haarlem.
Happy Christmas!

It is not a good time of year for me to express envy, so I'll reserve that sin until I've read your trip report.

OK, is it just me, or must bombastic have some meaning I'm unaware of?

i am so jealous. we loved Paris and Amsterdam this fall.
Visit my favorite coffeeshop Katsu for me in the Pijp.

I for one will be making my daily visit to this forum to check up on your merrymaking Pal - Have a fantastic time!

Have a great trip!

Nikki, no you are right, bombastic is being mis-used here, I'm just following pal and his mis-use of the word
It does sound the right sort of word for what happens here on NYE even though it isn't

From what I recall, I think we might say bomb-tastic.

Good one Patrick that describes it beautifully.

Bombastic it ain't - and i am sheepish to say i am a former high-school English teacher! But New Years Eve in Haarlem will be special i think. Weird that trains run from Amsterdam CS to Leiden well after midnight on NYE but not to Haarlem.

And it seems the weather outside there is indeed frightful- reminds me of about three years ago or so when i landed at Schiphol and took the bus to Haarlem to base there. The winds were, they said, of hurricane levels - i took the train to Amsterdam and walked around even though there were warnings to stay off the narrow streets where bits of buildings and roofs were being blown into the street. I did see some cornices tumble down and when crossing canals had to hold on tightly to the bridge rails - what a memory

And then when returning to Centraal Station to hop the train back to Haarlem i was informed that the electric wires on the Haarlem route were down and all trains were cancelled for the rest of the day.

I had to scurry around to find a bus from a place on the western edge of Amsterdam to a place HalfWay(sp?)-the name of the place halfway between Amsterdam and Haarlem where we changed buses and a relief to get back to Haarlem

So i do hope for calmer weather by the time i arrive in Haarlem.

Thanks to those who made nice comments!

Well, I hope they get the Austerlitz track put back together, because 500 meters of it and the overhead wiring got ripped up in that derailing accident the day before yesterday. The station has been closed since then.

In fact, at the moment Austerlitz passengers have to go to Gare de Lyon and take the train to Juvisy, from which they are taken to Aubrais for onward trains to Toulouse or Brive.

merci jack - my son is flying out tomorrow and his Mom was worried he would not be able to reach Aubrais by train so she booked some kind of shared cab or whatever for like 100 euro - but it appears passengers can reach Aubrais - via Juvisy, which i thought may be possible if the trains were running from there to Les Aubrais - RER E (D?) comes in there from Gare de Lyon and it is also a station on the mainline south to Aubrais. Again thanks a whole whole lot.

Man a drunk driver hits a bridge and knocks a huge chunk of concrete down onto the RER C/Les Aubrais line - knocks over an RER car i guess - 30 slightly wounded and then chaos for days.

What is rahter odd is that the NS site so no trains to Haarlem as I said earlier, but 9292OV says there are trains until 01.44.
I would suggest you check at the station in Haarlem during the day. Someone is bound to be able to tell you there.
Assuming NS ever get the trains running again that is.

Palenque----"All the boring details as they come"----details about Paris and France can never be boring. We're looking forward to your reports.

Marry Christmas!

thanks TPAYT- Merry Christmas to you too.

Hetismij - bahn.de German site says no trains after 8pm like you said but i will check for sure - i was surprised no trains but then on such days you never know. Anyway thanks for the info and details.

I can't wait till i get to Amsterdam and Holland once again - Paris and France too, bien sur!

Pal...telling you to have a good time is rather senseless...I know you'll make a good time of anything no matter! Enjoy being with son...have a very happy, peaceful New Year..
Keep us informed..

Stu Tower

Details about Haarlem are even more interesting than boring old Paris.

Pal, I had the good fortune to spend two New Year's Eves in the Netherlands. Perhaps "bombastic" is not the proper English to describe the event, but it sounds right. "Explosive", "concussive", or "F@#$%%@ Crazy" probable are good starting points.

The main difference that startles us Yanks is that unlike the States, when firecrackers start early in the day, and other displays start happening around dusk, with the big displays happening at full dark, In Holland they all start at the stroke of midnight, and everything goes up at once -- everyplace! People spend an awful lot on personal fireworks and, since buildings are mostly brick, and the roofs of tile --- stand back!

My first was on a balcony in Amsterdam itself, overlooking a typical narrow street. At the stroke of midnight the entire street erupted. It was literally filled with flame, sparks and bursting rockets. It was so intense we had to retreat into the room and close the French doors, as we expected to be incinerated. Younger folks, chaps mostly, raced up and down the street through the rain of fire, shooting roman candles at anything and anyone.

The second NYE was spent in a rather rural suburb, and I expected it to be tamer. No way! My host handed each member of our party as we left his home to go to the square a pair of safety glasses. Wise move, as we needed them. A set of fisherman's rain gear would have been handy to act as armor, as well.

You will have a WONDERFUL time!

I'll be watching on my Amsterdam webcam for that!

Haven't been to Haarlem in about 5 years, but it is fantastic! I was in the NL for New Year's and they definitely weren't running trains from A-dam to Haarlem after midnight. I ended up taking a taxi from A-dam all the way to Zandvoort where I was staying. Cost about 180 euro, if I remember correctly

Great place to spend the holidays...have fun

nukesafe -your description of the truly BOMB-bastic NYE in Haarlem (or Amsterdam or even as you point out in the sticks)- how bombastic it really is like Baghdad during Shock & Awe - loud fireworks everywhere - folks at my Haarlem B&B - Dutch folk said that this bombastic NYE works have been a longtime tradition- they did say they thought it was a bit down in recent years!

nukesafe - thanks for your NYE's memories