While planning my full month of may in wonderful Nederland, I had only time to stay in eight small cities in Holland. Since I had a friend from a de-funked social travel site, I decided to make a three day visit to his town of 's-Hertogenbosch. Well, this worked out better then I thought possible. My friend (and free guide) met me in front of my hotel on my second day in Den Bosch. He drove me in his car slowly so I could make field notes with exact directions with the Dutch "straats" so I could find my nearest bus station. Then he drove me to a good parking spot near Den Bosch Station. This started my free walking tour of beautiful 's-Hertogenbosch. In front of the station was a tall statue-monument thing that was ... read more

I was tired but realized that this would be my only chance ever to see Wilhelmina Park. This was a longer walk than other walks I made in Breda, and it was worth the walk. Crossing into the park I liked the view across a very nice canal to some nice buildings. I got to see a nicely landscaped Polish WW2 Memorial. I think this was to honor the Polish troops who fell in battle to liberate the City of Breda in October, 1945. A ways off in Wilhelmina Park was a German Panther tank that was captured by the Polish troops. Walking back to my hotel I made my nice stay for a while at Valkenburg Park. I settled in at my hotel to rest so I would be ready to scoot the next morning ... read more

On my last day in Breda I started out with some good coffee at my hotel restaurant. I walked out into the Breda Grote Markt (large market) and purchased some oranges and bread for later that day. I walked by the multiple story row buildings of the old downtown Breda. I walked by Sint Antoniuskerk Kathedraal Bisdom Breda and it was closed. (Built in 1837 AD) I continued on to the nearby Casteel van Breda (Castle of Breda). There was an old military fort there dating back to 1198 AD. In 1826-1828 the Dutch Royal Military Academy was located there in a real fort. Now the fort is the Koninklijke Militaire Casteel van Breda, that is run by the Dutch army and air force. This is an impressive old structure. I was taking a nice break ... read more

Arriving at Breda Centraal I took a taxi to my hotel Shadshotel De Kloc, conveniently located on the downtown Grote Markt. With only two days here in Breda it was time for me to get walking to see this beautiful old city. Right there on the market square was the Grote Kerk or Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady); a good place for me to start my tour of this beautiful city. The inside of this fine old church was beautiful with its stained glass windows and a large pipe organ. (I would love to be inside the church when its pipe organ was playing.) Other attractions include artifacts, high colourful ceilings, smaller chapels, and floor markers (graves) for famous people in history that are interned there. The outside of the church was impressive with ... read more

This was my last day in the historic city of The Hague, and I had no time to waste. From my hotel everything of my interest was within easy walking. My first stop was the large impressive Binnenhof (Inner Court). This was a large set of centuries old connecting buildings built as a large rectangle with a large open courtyard inside. The Binnenhof was built in 1248 AD as a royal residence. In 1446 AD this became a home to the Dutch Parliament, and served a variety of governmental functions as it does today. The enclosed middle courtyard is open free to the people. There was large sections with fancy gates open for people to explore. The most impressive free standing structure near the center of the Binnenhof courtyard was the Ridderzaal (Knight's Hall) with its ... read more