http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Netherlands , South Holland , The Hague en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:13:33 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:13:33 UTC Arrived in the Netherlands and as always was amazed how userfriendly an airport Schiphol is. Short lines at immigration and customs and no complex procedures. They must know who I am because only a glimpse at my passport was enough to let me in Karen and I were on different airlines so she could use miles. This meant however that she had been sitting at the coffeeshop across from customs for q http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-345884.html It's almost exactly one month since I arrived in this funny country. I've grown used to feeling like a Lilliputian navigating public transportation and buying things at the grocery store based on educated guesses. What I haven't gotten used to surprisingly is work. Actually that's a good thing. If a person gets used to reading about and listening to stories of brutal rapes and amputations http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-338631.html 11020088pmVrederust The HagueI thought I had gotten lucky on the flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. A 50something Swedish man sat near me and immediately started up a conversation. If he had been Greek it would have made me nervous. But the Swedes are nice right So I spent the rest of the flight talking to him and he decided to take it upon himself to help me in Schipol airport. Th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-329815.html I spent a great deal of time at the beach this weekend. On both Friday and Saturday night Neil and I rolled out to Scheveningen for beers and beats. Apart from a high number of private wedding parties the beach at night was very cool with housey beats drifting among the dunes and revelers drinking away the night. On Saturday the second night amidst the clubs we planted ourselves in some beanb http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-318661.html No visit to Holland is complete without going to the miniature village of Madurodam where all the major cities of the Netherlands are reproduced in minute detail.This is just the best place for kids and adults alike. I remember visiting Madurodam when I was aged 10 years and thinking it was just about the best place especially if you love dolls's houses. Trains boats planes cars and figure http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-318000.html Tag 80 Schouwen Monster 90.0 km Fahrzeit 520 Durchschn. 16.85 kmh Gesamtstrecke 4024 kmDer Tag fngt verregnet an wird aber immer sonniger. Als ich die Gegend von Rotterdam erreiche brauche ich schon wieder Sonnenschutz.Das GPSGert scheint sich vom gestrigen Sturz fast wieder erholt zu haben. s geht zumindest nicht wieder von selbst aus. Allerdings scheint es die Batterien wesentlich s http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-316898.html Well as the title says I'm packing my bags to leave. Not for good though. Just a little weekend trip to visit Rome Italy. Having never been to Rome I have read countless blogs fora and travel guides for exactly how to pack a month's worth of sights into 3 nights and 4 days. I have come to the conclusion that I will not sleep. Rather I will walk throughout the day for 12 hours or so. Then http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-311693.html This week has flown by like a seagull with its ass on fire. I sent Julia off on an adventure by herself two nights ago. She finished her program in Amsterdam and came to stay with me in The Hague for two nights. Unfortunately I had to work but I did get off early one day to go to the beach with her.And guess what little Jules did at the beach She trusted her life to a thin bungy rope and leaped http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-309753.html On Sunday afternoon I put on my walking shoes and packed my bags for Rotterdam which is only a short train ride away. Having never been to Rotterdam I knew only superficial details like the fact that it's the largest port in Europe and whose population is known for shunning deodorant. In Rotterdam's defense however I did notice a concerted advertising effort to post deodorant ads at bus stop http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-302734.html Salimos de Delft cerca de las 2 de la tarde con tiempo suficiente para una pasada rpida por el centro de La Haya e ir a un parque que est en las afueras llamado Madurodam. Dicen que es la ciudad mas pequea de Holanda y no se equivocan para nada Es una gran maqueta a escala del pas en un rea de unas 4 manzanas creada en 1952.Cada edificio o construccin importante de Holanda est all re http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-301855.html Last weekend when Julia came to visit we ventured north of the pier in Scheveningen in search of the beachclubs of yore. A coworker told me that Billabongs is a cool club but I couldn't settle on the perfect music so we kept walking until we landed at a nice little place with decent furniture on which to rest our weary butts. I can't recall the name of this place but there was a large party go http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-300135.html On Friday Julia and I walked up the Scheveningen beach toward the pier and beach clubs. Scattered like brightly colored toys on the sunseted horizon windsurfers and kitesurfers appeared in full force. Funny thing is that on Saturday at about the same time there was but one windsurfer. I guess the Dutch prefer to get their waterwork done on Fridays. We saw windsurfers in the tens nearing 20 or http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-299261.html ... I enjoy all of these things and therefore when all three came along in one day i was more than happy.Our destination of the day was The Hague it's about 30 minutes north west of Rotterdam by train and so it was back to the station for us all Except Erik he had some work to do. We were going to meet the final piece of the puzzle you might say Sarojini's Grandmother.The Hague is a very beau http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-298792.html On Sunday I walked northeasterly to Westbroekpark where preparations were being made for the annual rose competition and De Parade was taking place.For the rose competition many small gardens each with a different type of rose were on display. There were probably over 50 different types of roses on display many of which I had never seen before. I posted some pictures but the only eventf http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-297099.html Gday all been a while since the last blog just too busy enjoying myselfthese are just some photos that ive taken over the last couple of weeks. and Billo ill add the scores of myself and shane so far.1st gameDeitz 24Jolly 2Jolly 019 off 7 overs2nd GameDeitz 22Jolly 328 off 63rd GameDeitz 69Jolly 12 including the biggest six in the worldJolly 030 off 5Deitz 111 of 84th GameDeitz 8Jolly 4 http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-296639.html While I was walking from my apartment to the city center I discovered one of the only pickup trucks I've seen since I've been here. As you can see it has an unusual company name stenciled onto the side. Golfsurfschool. Hmmmm......Instead of doing any real research into this mysterious company I recalled Top Secret and Val Kilmer's rendition of Skeetsurfin one of the alltime best extrem http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-296146.html Here in Holland there are few ways to pay for public transportation. It's not as simple as walking up to the driver of the tram and buying a ticket or pouring some coins into a slot. There are too many people and that process would take too long although it is possible on tram rides only. So these wily and ingenious Dutch have come up with a way to pay for your tickets in advance by selling yo http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-295191.html HellooI finally made my way out to the Netherlands last night after my week in Paris. Trains were delayed but I still made it here at a reasonable time.. Met my friend Krittika the one I'm staying with at the train station and then made our way over to her family's apartment. Was nice to finally settle in a real house for a bit rather than hostelshotels Today we went into Den Haag she live http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-294555.html Sometimes all it takes is someone a little sillier than you to show you the way. You have to click on the video link below.From the Where the Hell is Matt websiteMatt is a 31yearold deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while but eventually realized there might http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-294115.html On the train ride back from Amsterdam I snapped up this nifty little photo from a Dutch newspaper that someone had left behind. Pay special attention to the health advice at the bottom of the ChupaChups package.I've been trying to tell my girlfriend this for years. Now I have some legitimate scientific evidence. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-294098.html http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-294094.html These are some pics I took at the beach on Saturday. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-293487.html These are some pictures from Parkpop the free Dutch music festival that pretty much ends the Hague festival season. Supposedly Sheryl Crow was the headliner but we didn't stay that deep into the night. I did see the Proclaimers about midday which is like 5pm here. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be stoked about that. I mean I did kinda like their song which I heard today about the walking http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-293352.html If you're going to have any street cred in the Netherlands there are two things you should know. First nobody carries firearms. So as long as you can run faster than a knife or know Aikido you can pretty much strut around like you own the place. In New Orleans I would have six bullets in my gut and a swift burial in an unmarked grave for even thinking that. So take that NO try and get me no http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-292747.html This is a picture of me on the tram. It takes me about 3540 minutes to go from the stop by my apartment to Voorburg where the ICC is located. On the way there and back I pass by a huge variety of people businessmenwomen backpackers cheesemakers pirates wankers and the sort. It seems that many of the Dutch ride bikes to work so I actually fit into the minority of lazy people or people wi http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-292735.html Man oh man. On the telee I just caught the headliners of tonight's Glastonbury 2008 Festival The Kings of Leon. It was effin unbelievable Marco this is for you.If any of you wankers are unfamiliar with the Kings you are missing out on the goods. So put that shit away you are listening to and let loose the inner rockstar. I know he or she is in their somewhere getting tattoos swillin w http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-292587.html I've been trying to figure out the respective roles of the prosecutor and defense in an international criminal proceeding. I know you're probably yawning right now. But this is some cool stuff. From what I've gathered with a limited exposure to international law is that these roles depend on whether the court follows an adversial or inquisitorial procedure. I clipped the following from an articl http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-291975.html There are some very interesting developments occuring at the ICC these days. Some of you may realize that the Court though having been created some years ago was scheduled to begin its first trial this past Monday. Although the Court has issued arrest warrants for individuals involved in 4 African situations only a few are in custody. This week's trial was to be of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo founder http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-291564.html I don't know the significance of the Dutch Welpie but this litttle guy is so popular they give him away at the local supermarket. It doesn't end there. I see his picture posted all over the place usually accompanied with strange Dutch words I haven't deciphered yet. And get this.....The number one song here in Holland is the official Welpie song. People are grabbing it for their ringtones i http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/The-Hague/blog-291306.html