Blogs from The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 4

This morning we said goodbye to magnificent Amsterdam. We will return! Ron collected us from our hotel this morning and delivered us to our hotel in the centre of The Hague. It is a gorgeous hotel that sits on an avenue lined with chestnut trees and beautiful old embassy buildings. A peaceful, quiet setting. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when my sister Anne and brother-in-law Ric, also holidaying in Holland, picked us up with my cousin Nel for an afternoon in the city. Did it feel strange to see my big sister half way round the other side of the world? Not one bit! The city of The Hague has it's own unique style. Although just an hour away from Amsterdam it is quite different. Although it has many of the same style houses that ... read more

Hi all, been a little too busy to write much about our travels so will try and just do little bits and add photos. Tuesday 26th June Yesterday we bid farewell to Miss Sarah who was returning home to her much missed husband via a shopping stopover in Bangkok (like she had not already bought everything on offer in Morocco)! Miss you already Princess!!-- oops sorry Queen Sarah! And then there were 6! This morning after breakfast we bid farewell to Miss Leanne, who is returning home via a very brave stopover alone in Paris. Sure you will love it, and you are now an experienced traveller so don't panic. And then there were 5! This remaining 5 flew out later in the day and headed north to Amsterdam. We are all couchsurfing with our friend ... read more

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

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

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