Den Haag

So this was the first weekend I actually travelled anywhere outside of Rotterdam and I actually ended up visiting 2 different cities Den Haag (The Hague) and Amsterdam. On Friday I went to Den Haag, we were originally supposed to be quite a big group but half the group decided to go later in the day, which was okay because it was nice to travel in a small group which made it easier to decide where to go.
Upon getting off the train that took us to the Haag we promptly found a bus which would take us to the Canadian embassy where I very much wanted to go and visit. I'm entirely sure what possesed me to make me want to go but we went. The embassy is in a beautiful area in the Haag with other embassies and the leaves are changing. I was of course greeted upon arrival at the embassy by a very high fense and a security guard who was more than happy to let me in, despite the somewhat unfriendly exterior appearance. Upon going inside I discovered that the embassador was not there and I was asked to come back next week for a visit. I also hope to get a position as a volunteer at the embassy so hopeful my next visit to the embassy will be more fruitful than this first one.

After the embassy we went and had lunch at a lovely cafe (which is actually a bar in Dutch terms, but most eateries here are cafes so meh) Anyway the cafe had a very extensive and inexpensive menu on which I discovered they had a salmon club sandwhich which of course I had to try because I had never heard of a salmon club sandwhich before. I enjoyed the sandwhich, perhaps in a different way from the way I enjoy club sandwhiches in Canada but it was an experience, as this club sandwich had eg on it instead of bacon. But the point is, I was in the Hague, and I'm talking about sandwhiches, and no one really wants to know about my sandwiches so I digress.

After Lunch we started browsing the shopping streets and found a very nifty little store with all kinds of gadgets in it, many of them for the kitchen but they were painted and shaped in very interesting ways. As we continued we found an adorable little old chocolate store with the most scrumptious looking chocolates ( see picture) so of course me being me I insisted that we buy some (they came in packages of 2 so we each bough a package). And we continued on our way. Something interesting, but perhaps not suprising is the number of book stores and English book stores in Den Haag. Apart from the book stores at the university, I only know of one book store in Rotterdam, but down the one street we were on there were no fewer than 5 book stores. In one of the stores I found a Peanuts book I had never see before called Snoopy: Featuring the Legal Beagle, and I bought it.

I should probably note at this point that I went to Den Haag with the intention of buying things so this was not just a flare up of shopaholism. Anyway we continued on our way, found a fair trade store (really cool) and then had a cappucino. After that we headed for Den Haag Stadhuis (city hall) which is famously known as the ice house because it is white and quite cold to it's inhabitants and employees. We wandered around here for a while, I took pictures and then we left. Outside Den Haag Stadhuis we found a UN flag but no UN buildings were to be found. That's ok though because we were all very tired at this point and had already vowed to come back another day to do the museum route. So we got another cappucino (everybody trinks koffie here all the time) and headed for home.

I should probably also mention that I replaced my stolen camera the day before we went to Den Haag. It is the same camera as my old one but 4 years younger with new features. I've already taken 73 pictures on it so you can count I'll be comming home with about Eleventy BILLION pictures.

So obviously I've learned an important lesson from this weekend which is it's impossible to see an entire city in a day, but it's fun to try.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Adventures in Amsterdam,
Cheers!