The Hague – 12-15 July, 2022
12 July
Off to The Hague today. We walked the short distance to the train with enough time to get some lunch stuff. I brought along the left over salad and Anne bought a sandwich in the station. We went to Plat 11 but learned after waiting a while that it was changed to 14. We dragged our luggage up and over to the next platform and finally boarded and found seats.
It’s a 6+/- hour journey with 2 changes to get to The Hague. We travelled along at nearly 100mph so it was hard to see much of the passing German countryside. It’s mostly agricultural with horses, corn and wheat fields. As we got farther into the Netherlands we saw more and more cows.
We got to our flat right in the heart of the old city. It’s old, and slanted!!! The stairs are very steep, narrow and spiral…. We were thankful that our host, Jessica, lugged the big suitcases up the stairs to the first level, 2 stories. There’s another level above where the two bedrooms are. We didn’t take too much up there and had to slowly descend/climb in the middle of the night. We did discover handles to grab on the interior pole of the stairway that made it easier.
Jessica recommended a nearby seafood restaurant for our first dinner here. Harpoon – turned out to be a great choice. Small plates. We choose sourdough bread, mackerelle fillets, delicious octopus with a wonderful sauce and “fish no chips” which was hake. We had a second plate of the octopus. Very good!!!
It was a very hot night – the flat was hot and the fan only helped a little bit until the early morning when it finally cooled down some.
We asked both Jessica and our dinner waiter what they’d recommend for our short visit here. Both were pretty clear – the Mauritshuis Museum, the beach and when we queried they agreed with Delft. Both the beach and Delft are reachable via Tram/streetcar No 1 which is about 2 blocks from the flat.
13 July
Anne wanted to step out for breakfast and as it was a beautiful sunny, clear, not too hot day we wandered a short ways and found a nice spot on the street.
We organized ourselves for a day out and found our way to the museum. It’s small and very easy to see without getting too overwhelmed. Much of the works are by Vermeer. There are others as well, and also a few contemporary photographers with similar subjects offered in contrast. My favorite for that was an old oil of a young girl writing a letter placed adjacent to an artfully lit photo of a young girl doing effectively the same thing on her phone. The caption closed with, “did she send the text?”
The museum is a beautiful classical house with a canal/lake behind it. The fountain and geranium planters made a very nice spot as we walked along it. After the museum we found Tram No. 1 and headed out of town for 20 minutes to see the beach area.
It’s very touristy with many on the beach restaurants between the walkway and the beach itself. There are a couple of points where you can walk out on the sand. We walked towards the harbor area. Once there, we realized we were in the outer area, we had to walk another 10 minute to get around it, and an area of construction and industrial activities to get to the inner harbor. There were many people and kids out on the sand and some in the water.
We walked along the boardwalk area for quite a while. We saw small boat racing with spinnakers up and large ships off in the distance. We don’t know if they were queueing up to get into Rotterdam. Along the way was a collection a very funny whimsical character sculptures. I particularly like the sleeping froglike creature with backwards facing feet.
Once we got to the inner harbor area we saw lots of boats and found several restaurants to consider for a late lunch. It was perfect!!!! Sunny warm, we’d walked a lot and decided a cold beer would be tasty, and an order of mussels, dark bread, and fries. Sitting in the sun and being warm for the first time on the trip was a pleasant way to spend some time. We headed back to the flat with a 10 min walk to the No 1, and a 20min ride to the stop near us. The beer resulted in both of us taking a short nap!!!
Not sure whether we’ll have a small dinner or maybe an ice cream, but the evening is nice. It’s cool. There’s a breeze blowing through the open windows and someone is practicing on a horn – maybe a saxophone? They are in a nearby flat. Not great music but it’s not bad either!!!
Tomorrow we’ll be back on Tram No. 1 and ride to Delft which is fairly close as well.
