Madurodam and The Beach and the Seagull

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This morning we headed off to Den Haag (The Hague). Our first stop was Madurodam which is a big tourist attraction consisting of around 200 buildings in The Netherlands created by hand in miniature (scale of 25:1). It was sort of like the Dutch version of Cullen Gardens except that they were replicas of actual things here (some of which we've already seen and some not). For example they had a replica of Schiphol Airport and you could see the 747s taxiing out to the runway. It was really well done.

Next stop was Scheveningen Beach which is on the North Sea. We had expected it to be similar to when we were at the North Sea in England and it was a little chilly, but people went in the water anyways. Well, here in the Netherlands, the North Sea beaches get quite hot! It was the perfect beach day - hot, sunny, and the beach was packed! Even on a Monday! One funny story: we bought some raw herring (a typical Dutch treat) and were warned to watch out for seagulls. We've also been told the correct way to eat these raw herring is hold them by the tail and dangle them into your mouth. So, as Nigel was dangling his herring (that is not a euphemism for anything), I was trying to grab a quick photo, and doesn't a seagull swoop down and snatch the herring right out of his hands and mouth!! All he got was a mouthful of feathers!! Well, they did warn us. Stupid tourists trying to get a photo...Actually, unbelievably, I got an awesome photo that is actually worthy of sending in to some photo contest! I actually managed somehow to click a picture at the exact moment that the seagull took the herring!

We spent several hours at the beach and then started searching for somewhere to eat dinner on the way home. We finally found a quaint Italian place in Groeneveld and had pizza and pasta. We ate on the patio but luckily, there were no seagulls. I did notice Nigel constantly looking over his shoulder though and hovering over his pizza protectively.

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Photos

Boy with finger in dike
This is a statue (or at least I hope it is) of that famous little boy who saved Holland by keeping his finger and eventually his whole arm in a hole in the dike overnight to keep the sea out.

Spot the giant
Looks like a real street photo until you spot the giant person standing in behind the model building.

Hotel fit for a queen
Really nice beach side hotel. This is the front.

Back of palatial hotel
This is the back. What a magnificent hotel.

Mmmm raw herring
Russell loves these raw herrings which you dangle by the tail and eat whole.

Caught on film
Lori managed to snap the photo at the precise second that the seagull snatched the herring from my mouth. You can see his beady little eyes, evil rat bird!

Who needs a baby sitter?
Just bury them up to their necks in sand.

Comments

[Scoot]

You should have a caption contest for that one photo. Ours may be: "Hungry enough to eat gull!" or maybe "Nigel's flippin' the bird."

[anonymous]

Amazing photo, or the evil rat bird, Lori!