So on our second day we started off early to get to Den Haag, the city where the Dutch parliament is settled as well as the royal family resides. Beforehand I also contacted friends I met half a year ago and some of them could make it. I was really looking forward to see them.
The city is really green. I like the style of tress along the canals. Like Amsterdam, Hague has also Grachten (canals) where boats reside at the banks So we took the train from Amsterdam Zuid to Schiphol and went on to Den Haag. Unfortunately, they have two stations and since I thought Den Haag HS is the one before the one I intended to get off, we went on until we were in Rotterdam! We were a little panicked because we just wanted to get off the next station and go back.
Well, it’s just 15 minutes far away our friend had to wait. Arriving at Hague HS we were a little bit surprised by the dirtyness of the area. It turned out that a lot of foreigners (i.e. immigrants) settled down like in every other larger European city but it was not too bad. Only the fact that the station officer sold us a transportation map while I wanted a city map. Totally dumb of him.
We came along a museum but we didn’t go neither after meeting up. Well, after walking some minutes we arrived at the main station where Dieuwke waited for us. It was great to see her again, because I didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye then though at that time everyone knew that people are leaving so we didn’t keep much in contact.
She showed us around a little bit. We saw the Binnenhof, where the Dutch parliament resides.
This was in front of the Queen’s working palace. It is just some minutes around the Binnenhof’s corner. This is also the place where she announces budget decisions or stand on the balcony on Queen’s Day.
Just in front of there palace there’s the statue of William I. who founded Netherlands (I think).
The International Justice Court is the place to be - when you are a worldwide hunted villain. It was closed on Sunday and I doubt you could ever visit it.
The world peace flame is burning until eternity. Almost every nation has contributed a typical stone from their country.
Schenevingen (which is not like we Germans pronounce it at all!) is the beach area. Really cool atmosphere, must be great in summer. You could see from far that housing looks upscale, a hotel at the beach and a casino makes it feel pretty non-Northern European to me! More like somewhere in the south…
We settled down in a beach café and had little snacks. Bitterballen is a typical Dutch snack like our German ‘Kroketten’ and has a crunchy dough from the outside but the inside is filled with mashed potatoes. Love it, was delicious. Dieuwke and Bohyun ordered Chicken Wings and Prawns. Beach flair.
Yup, the hotel must be really expensive. At least it looks like it from the outside.
After that we met Tim in the city, wandered a little bit in Chinatown.
You can see a Mosque in Chinatown! It even was a synagogue before!
The Indonesian food was fine. Seems like food is a little bit more expensive than in Germany, but you definitely get full.
Great to see my friends again. Also Marie made it to our little reunion. And then, we took the train back to Amsterdam. What a nice day we had.