Chartres Cathedral

Here's my favorite Cathedral.  If you ever visit the cathedral (don't bother with the town, there's nothing there), you should get a tour from Malcolm Miller.  He's an institution at Chartres, who has spent his life giving tours of the cathedral and traveling the world talking about it.  From what I've heard, he has never given the same tour twice.  Here's an account of the Malcolm Miller experience.   Here is my favorite window.  My favorite part about stained-glass windows of this era
are the depictions of the donors at the bottom.  Often the donors were guilds, and the depictions offer an interesting first-hand glimpse into the day-to-day work of ordinary people.  The Furriers donated this one.

Belarus

Most tour books of Europe tell people to shy away from Belarus.  Yeah, the government isn't
great, but it's an interesting country with nice people if you can find a way into it.

Minsk webcams and news here and here.  The latter one is especially fun to watch as people
at the bus stop cram in and pour out of the very crowded public transportation!

Soyuzonline (in downtown Minsk - try the computer pizza)

Most under-rated historical spots in Europe: Niasvizh - home at one time of one of the
most powerful families in Europe, the Radzivils.  (It was the home of Michael, not the evil
Yanush who was the traitor to Poland portrayed in Szienkiewic's Deluge)

Here's some more interesting history about Belarus.

Haarlem

Haarlem is my favoite city.  It's a small town about 20 minutes from Amsterdam.  It's main features are the town square, St. Bavo's and, of course, the canals.  The town square is large, sporting lots of cafes, restaurants, a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster (an inventor of the printing press - every nation needs their own) food carts that sell poffages (dutch pancakes usually with powdered sugar on top) and raw herring with onions.  St. Bavo's is a historic church that lives on the
town square.  its Muller organ was once played by Handel and a 10 year-old Mozart.  People from all walks of life are buried underneath the floor.  Markers of all styles are seen throughout.  For example, in one corner you might see a bunch of primitive etchings of shoes.  That would be where the cobblers' guild bought space to bury their members - beneath each shoe would be a cobbler's remains.  Others are more interesting.  By the alter is a marker with a large hole in it under which lies someone who was afraid of being lonely in death.  Once a year, a lantern is placed by the grave so that people can look inside.  Another one has just has a single word ornately written in huge letters - "ME".  .. and of course there are the usual markers of aristocrats.  It's a nice place to hang out by a canal, check out some of the sites like the church or people watch in the square without hassling with the intense tourism of Amsterdam.

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