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luckykaaFelt I should explore this realm a little. I have a handy chipcard that works on the trains. The country is small, and railtravel is cheap.
So, decided to go to The Hague. It's conveniently close, and the train there goes through Lelylaan. So I arrived. And then though "Now what?". Well, clearly the first step was to walk into town and get a feel for the place. I found a Chinese gate and so strolled through Chinatown. Was delighted to see that oh-so-Chinese institution of a British tea shop.
Anyway, I read about a the "Discover the Bierstraat" exhibition in city hall. A history exhibition showcasing some of the finds from excavations in the 1990's. 5 minutes later I'd seen it. Not all that impressive, and it was all in Dutch. Okay, so that is the national language but it seems a bit pointless promoting it on the English language version of their site.
Waked towards the Noordeinde Palace, but on the way, found myself walking around some pop up bollards and into a small square surrounded by impressive buildings. So, this is the Binnenhof. Had a stroll around there and went to the palace. A decently impressive palace with a large lake working as a moat around the front.
Got on the tram to the Gemeentemuseum. The exhibit on paintings of anatomy lectures sounded interesting. And it was. Am not a huge art fan so not sure I really got my money's worth for the rest of the museum, but there was a fascinating Chanel exhibit. Fashion. Who'd have thought it could be so interesting. So many varieties of the concept of "little black dress". Lots of little snippets about the histoy of Coco Chanel.
So having done that, I remembered that I was near the sea! So I went to the sea.
Having grown up is Sussex, I've always felt at home beside the seaside. Seaside resorts have a lot of common themes. Scheveningen beach has a long expanse of sandy beach, fairground rides, a pier, sadly closed, and various restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream sellers. Didn't see any immediate sign of a tacky shop selling buckets and spades but I wasn't really looking. I bought an ice cream and wandered along the beach for a bit. It was actually warm enough to justify the ice cream. By the beach were sculptures representing fairy tales. Had QR codes linking to the official website telling the tales as well.
By this time, time was moving on. I could have stayed longer I guess. Spent some time in another museum or something and then tried the local food places but my feet were getting tired. So that was Den Haag. Nice place to visit on a sunny day.
So, decided to go to The Hague. It's conveniently close, and the train there goes through Lelylaan. So I arrived. And then though "Now what?". Well, clearly the first step was to walk into town and get a feel for the place. I found a Chinese gate and so strolled through Chinatown. Was delighted to see that oh-so-Chinese institution of a British tea shop.
Anyway, I read about a the "Discover the Bierstraat" exhibition in city hall. A history exhibition showcasing some of the finds from excavations in the 1990's. 5 minutes later I'd seen it. Not all that impressive, and it was all in Dutch. Okay, so that is the national language but it seems a bit pointless promoting it on the English language version of their site.
Waked towards the Noordeinde Palace, but on the way, found myself walking around some pop up bollards and into a small square surrounded by impressive buildings. So, this is the Binnenhof. Had a stroll around there and went to the palace. A decently impressive palace with a large lake working as a moat around the front.
Got on the tram to the Gemeentemuseum. The exhibit on paintings of anatomy lectures sounded interesting. And it was. Am not a huge art fan so not sure I really got my money's worth for the rest of the museum, but there was a fascinating Chanel exhibit. Fashion. Who'd have thought it could be so interesting. So many varieties of the concept of "little black dress". Lots of little snippets about the histoy of Coco Chanel.
So having done that, I remembered that I was near the sea! So I went to the sea.
Having grown up is Sussex, I've always felt at home beside the seaside. Seaside resorts have a lot of common themes. Scheveningen beach has a long expanse of sandy beach, fairground rides, a pier, sadly closed, and various restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream sellers. Didn't see any immediate sign of a tacky shop selling buckets and spades but I wasn't really looking. I bought an ice cream and wandered along the beach for a bit. It was actually warm enough to justify the ice cream. By the beach were sculptures representing fairy tales. Had QR codes linking to the official website telling the tales as well.
By this time, time was moving on. I could have stayed longer I guess. Spent some time in another museum or something and then tried the local food places but my feet were getting tired. So that was Den Haag. Nice place to visit on a sunny day.
