This past Saturday, I took the 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam to visit the city of Haarlem. Haarlem had a period of (relatively) great prosperity in the 1600's, and lent its name to the Haarlem school of painting from that period. I learned the city's two biggest industries at that time were brewing beer and making linen. Unfortunately, the linen industry consistently polluted the water, causing conflicts with the brewers. Apparently, Haarlemers drank on average two liters of beer per day!