Blogs from The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands, Europe

Wednesday 17th August, 2011 The Hague. We arrived early by train, and enjoyed a starbucks breakfast at the railway station. We set off on foot, armed with google maps on the iphone to find our main destination for the day; the Maurizhous, an art gallery with a collection of Dutch masters including Ver meer, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Franz Hals, Holbein and others. The most famous painting they house was featured in a film,The Girl with the Pearl Earring. We walked down the quiet streets of closed shops, past the houses of government, where important looking people were arriving for work. We arrived at the museum just after opening. There were no throngs of tourists at the entrance. The building is a grand house with an imposing foyer featuring a double staircase up both sides of the ... read more

We zijn nog in Nederland, maar het voelt een beetje alsof we al op reis zijn. Vandaar alvast een voorproefje op ons travelblog. :) Omdat het pand waarin we woonden binnenkort wordt afgebroken hebben we drie weken geleden onze spullen in een loods opgeslagen. Sindsdien zijn we zwervende en afhankelijk van de liefdadigheid van anderen voor onderdak. ;) We zijn in deze afgelopen weken vier keer verhuisd. (veel dank voor degenen die ons onderdak boden/bieden!) Het was duidelijk dat we nog veel te veel spullen bij ons hadden. Ook al deden we ons best om er vanaf te komen, de spullen van het ene naar het andere huis sjouwen was elke keer weer een beproeving. Het ging wel steeds beter, in plaats van vijf keer op en neer te moeten konden we de spullen uiteindelijk in ... read more

This is a good bit late, but I will chronicle our trip from Brussels to The Hauge. Allegedly, it is a 2 hour-1 train trek; however due to some power outage in The Hague, it took more like 4 hours and 4/5 trains ( I lost count) and a few miles of backtracking to finally make it to The Hague. And, of course, we came in to the train station furthest away from our stay. On our taxi ride though, we were able to see a few things, such as Chinatown (apparently the Hague is known for indochinese food) and the Queens Palace (more of a ceremonial/administrative place). We finally arrived at our destination, the ISS (institute of social studies). Got my key and headed to my room. And boy let me tell you; I was ... read more

To everybody who loves animals, nature, mankind and traveling. Have you ever had that feeling that you know what you are about to do will be exciting, amazing and well...the closed to your dream ever!? I am at that point! I have done some amazing things in my life but the biggest challenge has just knocked on my door. To travel the world and raise awareness for really important causes like WWF, Greenpeace, Amnesty and many more. I know this is what I need to do. I only need your help to get it, PLEASE vote for me using this link: www.internationaalambassadeur.nl/AnkeBakens and click "stem" (Dutch for vote) I know I am just a stranger to you but I have the same travelbug and a huge passion for wildlife, I need to contribute to the world!!!!! ... read more

Hi everybody, The real planning has begun. We are leaving the 6th of October. But the big question is still where to fly to. Will it be Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires? It all depends on price and on the best route to travel. But we will keep everybody updated on where we start and how our route will go...we have 8 months for south and central america. If we compare it to asia it should work but you never know. By the way, this time we will try to keep our blog in English so everybody can understand. That would be nice gheghe... untill next time, Hente en Muriel... read more

Goedemiddag allemaal! We zijn weer terug! Al zo'n 2 dagen, hoor :p. We hebben wel last van een jetlag... Maandagochtend gingen we in een veeeeel te kleine taxi naar het vliegveld. Het miezerde buiten, dus we vonden het niet zo heel erg dat we weer weg gingen. Voordat we het vliegtuig instapten, hebben we de duty-free shop nog even geplunderd. 'Ja? Kunnen we de vloeistof ook van Madrid naar Amsterdam meenemen? Ja? Sealed u hem? Oke, dan is het goed.' Ruim 11,5 uur later, toen we in Madrid door de security gingen, kregen we een vrouw op ons dak. 'Zijn deze flessen van u?' 'Uuh, ja...' 'Die mogen niet mee.' 'Maar het is gesealed' 'Nu niet meer. Ziet u dit formuliertje?' Draait formuliertje om in de plastic zak waarop staat dat deze vloeistoffen niet binnen Europa ... read more

It is cloudy, windy and coldish when we de-ship in the Hook of Holland. I am still feeling rather queasy and motion sick when we take the 30 minute tram ride into the bustling Den Haag train station where a surprise awaits us! We are warmly greeted by the “King of Holland” in full Orange football regalia with oversized orange bejeweled sunglasses. We had been feeling peckish and decided to grab some poffertjes (tiny pancakes) from a local dining establishment (Burger King). The "Orange King" overstays his welcome and is eventually ushered off the premises by the manager. We head out to find our tram which will take us to the Bel Air Hotel (where according to their website, children are not welcome.) We freshen up at our hotel and then decide to visit the M.C. ... read more