Day 43 – Tue 22 Jul 14, The Hague

Forecast: 18-24 deg C, sunny and nice; Listed distance: 0km; Actual distance: 19km; Cumulative distance: 1741km; Av speed: 12.7 km/h; Ride Time: 1h21m

It was nice to see blue sky when we opened the drapes this morning after a good sleep and a little sleep-in. After a very nice leisurely brekky we headed out towards the beach on the bikes.  After a couple of navigational corrections (read “getting a little lost”) we stumbled upon the Peace Palace, the home of the International Court of Justice and Permanent Court of Arbitration.  Let's hope that the results they produce on the inside are as impressive as the building in which they operate.  We were hoping to get a look inside but had to settle for a look at the visitors centre. 

It was then on to the beach; we can't get used to seeing the bars, restaurants and thousands of deck chairs all right on the sand.  It was good to see the ocean though with the passing parade of ships and boats.  There is also a harbour here for The Hague.  We took a slow ride back to the hotel to dump the bikes, have lunch and hit the streets of The Hague on foot, as Wendy does not like city riding in the Netherlands; she says they are all crazy as they do ride pretty fast.

The Hague is a great place for shopping, museums and art galleries.  All of these are ok for both of us in small doses.  We ended up wandering till 4pm and took in as many sights and sounds as we could.  It was Greg's second visit here and Wendy's first.  We've enjoyed the stopover in The Hague, loved how easy it was to explore both on foot and on the bike.  Maybe when all the construction is finished it will be even nicer city to visit. 

For dinner we revisited the same Chinese restaurant as last night, because we enjoyed it so much last night.  

The Peace Palace, The Hague
World Peace Flame
Scheviningen Beach
As above
City Hall, again
Hofvijver (Court Pond)
Peace Palace
Scheviningen Beach
3 crows
Inside City Hall
The money dress inside City Hall
De Passage - another shopping mall
Hofvijver (Court Pond)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 46 – Fri 25 Jul 14, Haarlem

Image
Forecast: 17-21 deg C, cloudy with showers and thunderstorms; no riding Just because we did not need to get up early, we were both awake before 6am, so had a cuppa in bed and then went downstairs for breakfast.   It was another good spread, but for a 4* it could have been a little better, ie. it could have a bigger selection of cereals than only 2.   There was a good selection of meats and cheeses though. The bikes stayed in the bike park today as we explored on foot.   After brekky we caught the train to Alkmaar to watch the world famous Friday Cheese Market in the 'Weighing Square'.   It first started about 400 years ago and the tradition has continued to this day, albeit with some theatrics for us tourists.   Judging by the enormous crowd it is a very popular spectacle.  In short, a whole stack of cheese is carried onto the square on a shoulder slung platform by blokes dressed in traditional kit.   The buyers then negotiate a price with the selle...
Read more

Day 45 - Thu 24 Jul 14, Leiden to Haarlem (the Netherlands)

Image
 Forecast: 16-25 deg C, mostly sunny; Listed distance: 33km; Actual distance: 40km; Cumulative distance: 1811km; Av speed: 13.2 km/h; Max speed: 26.3 km/h; Leiden: 20 deg C; Haarlem: 26 deg C; Start time: 9:15am; Stop time: 1:30pm; Ride time: 3h02m Another fine day in the Netherlands. We spent a while having breakfast this morning in order to kill some time before leaving for Haarlem.  We then packed up and checked out after 9am, which was a record late time for us!  We found our way quickly and easily through town to the outskirts and really took our time as evidenced by the slow average speed.  We also had a fairly strong side to head-on wind which was quite blustery and if you weren't on the ball kinda blew you sideways for a bit.   We stopped often to take photos and stopped for mornos in the town/village of Lisse (we purposely went via this place to see a castle and tulips; the castle was closed and the tulips had been reduced to bulbs - bugger!). We did...
Read more

Day 47 – Sat 26 Jul 14, Haarlem

Image
Forecast: 17-23 deg C, cloudy with showers in the afternoon; Listed distance: 0km; Actual distance: 58km; Cumulative distance: 1869km; Av speed: 15.3 km/h; Start time: 8:45am; Stop time: 2:30pm; Ride time: 3h43m As it was such a lovely day, we decided to ride out to the airport to make sure we know which way to go on Monday and don't get lost and then panic.   We were originally going to follow the numbers, but found an actual “Airport” sign instead and the route was much more direct and probably a better/smoother path.   At one stage we were directly under the flight path and stopped to watch a few planes come in.   We found the entrance easily and Greg then went to check on bike box availability.   As we were leaving we saw an Italian who was unpacking his bike to set off for Copenhagen and he was getting rid of his packing material so Greg disposed of it into his saddle-bag as it will be handy for us on Monday. On the way home Greg decided we should go via Ams...
Read more