Dutch Day Trip

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Geo: 52.0783, 4.31365

Our first full day in Holland was a busy one! With Lina busy today, Jan, Marielle, Nat and I climbed into the car around 10am, bound for Delft. What a pretty town it was. We spent some time exploring. Alongside little cafes, shops, canals and little bridges. We passed an impressive music machine in the street; a real one man band, powered by a motor. It wasn't long before we arrived at the base of the Delft Cathedral, the Nieuwe Kerk, completed in 1496. It was a really impressive church, relatively narrow given the height of its huge tower, standing nearly 110 metres tall and dominating the Delft skyline. The cathedral had a beautiful interior, with plenty of light, ornate chandeliers and nice stained glass windows. The Nieuwe Kerk (new church) also serves as a tomb to many famous members of the house Orange-Nassau including William of Orange. We also climbed to the top of the tower for beautiful views of the city.
The next stop was at the Hague, the Parliament City of the Netherlands. We parked and began exploring the city. We first came to the Working palace of Willem Alexander. Jan couldn't resist some ice creams, and we took a walk through the main Shopping Street in the city. We sampled some Stroop Waffles here, another tasty Dutch treat. Basically dry waffles with a tasty caramel filling. Next, a guided tour of the Parliament buildings, the Hall of Knights and Chamber of Parliament itself. The tour was difficult to follow, being entirely in Dutch, but we tried to pick up what we could through some translation and English handouts.
The final stop, Scheveningen Beach. Living in Australia we've always been spoiled with the quality of beaches, but this was of a surprising and impressive standard, not unlike St Kilda beach. We walked along the beach and along the edge of the icy shore up to the pier and back, stopping for dinner at the pancake house on the beachfront boulevard. I chose mince pancakes with a Duvel. Finally, after the crazy prices of Scandinavia food and especially beer is affordable once more!
We spent the evening teaching Jan Lina and Marielle to play Wippen the card game. There was an irony to Australians teaching Dutch to play a Dutch card game in English. Tomorrow, its off to Rotterdam.

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Comments

[Dad]

memoriesThe windmills, I lived in Delft and studied at there University for one year, I'm sure they tried to get you to say Scheveningen