Den Haag / The Hague

On to Den Haag! After running away from the rain in Utrecht we arrived in Den Haag while it was still icky. The evening we arrived, we checked out the city centre and then dodged rain for a bit by having dinner at a Greek restaurant (our first non-budget meal). It was so tasty, we had a lamb and aubergine dish with lots of yummy Greek salad on the side, and Baklavas for dessert (Dutch styles, with spices mmmmm speculaas-y!!!).

Then today was blue-sky-brilliant so we ventured out to the coast, a resort town called Scheveningen (it's WAY more difficult to pronounce than it looks).

There were lots of clubs and bars down on the beach, and some kind of tractor had just come along and combed all the sand along the beach to wipe off all the footprints!!

After figuring out the tram system (they have these strip-cards you have to stamp when you get on the tram), we managed to find the International Court of Justice aka the "Peace Palace". We were out of luck here too, as they've closed it off from the public this week for 'important meetings'. We had a good perve from the gates though.


How neat is that - me at the International Court of Justice in The Hague!!!

There is also the world peace flame there. That circle around the edges has country names on it. And it just so happens that NZ is alphabetically right next to Netherlands!

I made the mistake of sitting on this seat before looking, it was completely wet and soaked my pants. I had to walk around with a wet butt for ages.

After that we headed back into the city centre to see the Binnenhof or innercourt, which has a massive history of building and use ranging from Knight's hall to Prime Minister's office.

This is Hamish at the Royal Noordeinde Palace - the workplace of the Dutch Queen. We also went through the palace gardens which were lovely.

Treats in the Hague; deep fried Herrings, and dark-chocolate covered coffee beans. We tried the coffee beans! Didn't learn about the herrings til after we left, so we'll have to try them in Amsterdam instead!

Hopjes - Coffee candies

Utrecht

We were a bit sad to leave Rotterdam because it was so great, but after a fairly sleepless night thanks to drunk and rowdy guys in the dorm room (guess you get what you pay for with the cheaper dorm rooms hehe), it was also good to move on.

Unfortunately the weather packed in so we weren't able to see Utrecht in the sunshine, but it was lovely nonetheless.

Its about a 40min train ride from Rotterdam. I think it has a funny name. Like "Insect". When we first arrived at about 10am the whole place was completely closed up and there was noone on the streets. We have found that this is typical of the Netherlands, and not much is really open until 10am at the very earliest. Even in Belgium people were up before that! Weird nocturnal europeans....

Anyways we wandered into the city centre and came across this really awesome cut flower display, they were all plugged into the walls of a medieval courtyard.

Mish catching a wiff

Textured wallpaper!!!

This is the Dom tower (the flower display was just to the right of the tower). It's the highest church tower in the Netherlands apparently. We couldn't climb it - because it wasn't open yet! haha.

The city centre of Utrecht. Its quite pretty really. Lots of canals.

Mish at the Academiegebouw (Academy building) of the University of Utrecht.

We really just had a quick poke around the place, but what we saw of it was nice :)

Rotterdam; city of crazy architecture

Wow what a day we had today! Rotterdam is wonderful :) The weather was lovely this morning so we got out and about to see the sights. First of all, we took a boat trip up the river Nieuwe Maas to Kinderdijk. Kinderdijk is a village about 15km out of Rotterdam, and is the origin of "the cat and the cradle". Story goes that after the massive floods of 1421, a cat was spotted in a cradle, jumping back and forth to balance it so that no water came in. When the cradle was fished out of the water, they found a baby still dry and safe. Hence Kinderdijk means "child's dike" in Dutch.

There are 19 windmills, which were used to drain water from the area and prevent flooding (using archimedes screws). Some of them are really quite old -dating back to the 1700's.

Rotterdam really is an interesting looking place. Because it was completely destroyed in WWII, the city had to be rebuilt. But, unlike other cities which were rebuilt the same, Rotterdam was completely redesigned and modernised. And I guess the trend just continued on.

These are the famous Cube Houses. Ok, so we make a terrible cube...

We got to go inside one, they're really quite neat inside!

"Alles van waarde is weerloos" - Everything worthwhile is powerless

We went to the biggest market in Holland, and bought some great cheese.

It was aged Oude Noord Hollandse, and it was taasty

Then we washed the cheese down with a Stroopwafel - large thin hot waffles with melted caramel inside! Slightly spiced like speculaas too! If you're wondering about the health our dietary experience here, take comfort in the knowledge that we had broccoli and couscous for dinner. And for those wondering some more, no we have not visited any coffee shop of any sort.

We were planning on climbing the Euromast tower in the afternoon for a view of Rotterdam, but it started to rain so we decided not to. We did see people abseiling off it though.

So we went underground instead. Turns out there's an under-river pedestrian tunnel here too.

Mish in the Maastunnel.

We came across some very strange building shapes, sizes and colours (I will post on flickr soon). Also these random sculptures of this naked guy are ALL over the place... nooooo idea what or why... but then we came across a whole building of them!!! weeeeeirddddddd

Also visited the Walk of Fame!!

Johnny Cash

Carlos Santana


Bon Jovi

Dame Edna?!?!

Maastricht - Rotterdam!! (EDITED)

"This could be Rotterdam or anywhere
Liverpool or Rome
'Cause Rotterdam is anywhere... anywhere aloooonneeee"

We're now in Rotterdam!! I have had that song stuck in my head ALL day.

This morning we finished off our look around Maastricht - headed to St Pietersburg which is a fortified hill. Thing. We're not exactly sure, because it wasn't open! But I will google it when I have time hehe.

Fort St Pieter

Silent battle between mortal enemies, or, taunting from a safe distance (Mum will appreciate)

This is a sample of the local cuisine - Limburgse Vlaai. Maastricht is the capital of the Dutch province of Limburg, and vlaai must mean flan or tart or pie or something of that sort. Anyway it tasted good. Its like apple pie with raisins and cinnamon and reeeeeeeeeally good pastry.

Then, we hopped on a train to Rotterdam and here we are. Missed our connecting train in Eindhoven but managed to find the next one ok. Luckily its not as hot here, so we can move about without swimming in a pool of our own sweat (it was that muggy in Maastricht).

Just off to see some sights tonight, the rest we will see tomorrow! Must say the Dutch people are really nice - lots have stopped to help us so far! Love their accents too. And Dutch speculaas is definitely better than Belgian speculaas....

We have a hostel room here in Rotterdam for 2 nights. We have booked mixed dorms for all our travels but so far there have only been (really crusty) guys staying in them ... so im really glad mish is here to shield me from it all! Neat hostel though, the rooms are all themed and the receptionist is from Auckland :)

The 'Board Room'

We also tried Dutch pancakes with applesaus and siroop.... mmmmmmmm

Maastricht!

Made it to Maastricht! Just a quick post because I'm using some random wifi connection here at the hostel. Great day so far, but its ssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuper hot here. Maastricht is really quite neat, has a nice feel to it. Apparently it was established as far back as 50BC, and has a long history of Roman settlement.

Left Poor Sod behind in Gent :(

Arrived in Maastricht, nice new hostel on the river Maas.


Hostel has a 100-and-something year old tree in the middle of it.


Found clogs. Took photos with clogs. Felt like tourist hehe

Maastricht has fortifications from as far back as 1200. This is a canon from 1500.

Me at the rampart walls


Hamish at Hell's Gate (gate through the fortifications)

Supermarket was a great find. Cheap food + airconditioned airspace!!

Mish at St Servaas Basilica - this part built in 1100 AD.

Heading off to Rotterdam tomorrow. Hope you are all well :) xxx R

Salud, Gent en België

We're leaving Gent tomorrow morning (!!!) and heading to Maastricht by train. Then staying in Rotterdam for 2 nights, The Hague for 1 night, Amsterdam for 2 nights. Flying to London on the 6th August, train to Scotland on the 7th. Seeing the Edinburgh military tattoo on the 8th, then starting our 7 day tour on the 9th. Arrive at the Isle of Skye on the 18th August and start work on the 19th. Wohooooo!!

On our last day in Belgium;

I had to part ways with my beloved Isobel, Hamish with Poor Sod


Only in Belgium; Waffles in the sky!

On a bridge along the canal;

Couch dancing on the rooftop of Home Fabiola

Orestis' public farewell


I'll miss you, Gent, Vlaanderen, België!

Love to all back home - I hope the weather improves soon!! We will try and keep in touch as much as possible, not sure how often we will be able to check email etc but you can call / text both our NZ numbers (mine will work only in the UK, but mish has global roaming). XXX