Waarom de naam Spaarneboyz?Why the name Spaarneboyz?The Spaarne riverThe city of Haarlem is located 20 kilometers (13 miles) west of Amsterdam, and the Spaarne river flows through this beautiful city. (It is the capital of the province Noord-Holland and the eight largest city in the Netherlands). I live here in Haarlem and every day I cross the Spaarne river on one of the many bridges in our beautiful city. Here is a photograph of my favorite bridge, the Gravestenenbrug:  If you walk or bicycle along the Spaarne river you will see hot Spaarneboyz everwhere! Just north of Haarlem, for example, is the enormous Spaarnwoude recreational area (3000 hectares - 7400 acres). This area is extremely popular for walking, bicycling, and voetball (soccer)  However, voetball is not the only team sport that you will find in the Spaarnwoude. There are other team sports as well:  I should add that not everyone who visits the Spaarnwoude enjoys team sports. Many prefer to spend a quiet afternoon in the Spaarnwoude with their boyfriend:  Just a few kilometers north of Haarlem along the Spaarne river is also the small village of Spaarndam. Here you can find a statute of Hans Brinker - the legendary boy from Haarlem who stuck his finger into a dijk (dike) to stop it from leaking.  You may be surprised to find out that this legend is not Dutch - it was written in New York by an American woman - I am not joking! This legend was written in 1865 by Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge - she created a work of pure fiction. She had never even visited the Netherlands when she wrote this novel. (The entire novel, by the way, is available on the Internet with the title Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates In addition, you can read more about the historical background of this novel on the home page of Theo Meder, an ethnology researcher at the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam (a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences). Needless to say, American tourists visiting the Netherlands were always asking where they could go to see the place where the boy had stuck his finger into a dijk (dike). In order to please these American tourists the Dutch Bureau for Tourism decided to place a statue of Hans Brinker in Spaarndam in 1950. This statute was made by Grada Rueb, a Dutch sculptor and artist. Note: You need to learn a little bit of Dutch before you try to stick your finger into a dijk (dike) to stop it from leaking . . . there is a BIG difference between the Dutch word dijk (dike) and the English word dyke. . . and who wants to stick their finger into a dyke? Yuch!!!! Well, now you have learned a little bit about the Spaarne river, and the men whom we affectionately call the Spaarneboyz. Fortunately you do not have to learn any Dutch to enjoy this web site (or to visit us here in Haarlem). The next time that you are in the Netherlands keep in mind that our beautiful city of Haarlem is only an 18 minute train-ride from Amsterdam. When you visit us make sure to stop in at Gay Cafe Wilsons - a friendly local bar with lots of Spaarneboyz. You might even see me there - I am a frequent customer :-)  En nu, heel veel plezier!
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