What a Difference a Day (or two) Makes

 

As mentioned in the previous post, the weather over the weekend was VERY hot. Monday was a recovery day - still hot but not as extreme.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was much improved  - overcast and in the low 70s which made for a perfect day to visit The Hague. Then in the early hour this morning we were all awakened by the loudest and longest thunder we have every heard and the lightening lit up our bedroom.  It has been drizzling or pouring throughout the day with more thunderstorms on the way, so we are using the day to get caught up on reading, writing, laundry and work (Alex). Again, the advantage of a long stay like this is that don't have to power through a storm to cram in seeing everything.  Hopefully we will have a few days of good weather when we return from Paris and before we leave for Ireland on 8/26 to visit some remaining Netherlands sights.

On Sunday when we were walking back from the tram station, we noticed this Japanese restaurant and decided to give it a try on Monday night.

It was a beautiful restaurant, and air conditioned, so we gave it a try.  We hadn't read anything about it ahead of time, or we would have learned that it was a fixed price/all you can eat place.  The waiter explained that we just needed to download the app to one of our phones, and place our orders by "rounds" and there were 5 rounds. Confused yet?  Jim and I were; Alex seemed to get it.  The crazy part was that in each "round," each person ordered 4 items (small plates) -so that meant 12 small plates x 5.  Once we understood, we started ordering.  I stopped after 2 rounds, Alex made 3.  And Jim, who as most of you know, can never walk away from a food challenge did the 4th round and then called it.  The whole thing was entertaining and comical and while the food was just okay, the unique experience made up for it. 

Tuesday we took the train to The Hague.  Prior to planning the visit, we all thought that "The Hague" is what the international court is called.  Actually, The Hague is the capital city of the Netherlands, and the court is a building in it.  And just to provide more context, the Netherlands consists of 12 provinces with North Holland and South Holland being two of them - meaning the terms Netherlands and Holland are not interchangeable.  The final part of the history lesson:  The Netherlands has a monarchy (ceremonial not political) and is run by the Prime Minister and Parliament.  Our walking tour guide went through the history of the monarchy to put into context the many government buildings that were former palaces.  In addition to government buildings, the city is filled with many embassies, although the US Embassy is located outside of the city to accommodate its extensive security requirements.  The city is a mix of ages and architectural styles, often side by side.

We had noticed this cathedral when we were walking prior to the tour, and could not find any way to get in to see it.  Later during the tour, we learned that like many churches in the Netherlands, it is no longer used for religious purposes but instead for special events/performances.  Our tour guide had been there recently for a whiskey tasting event.

The above is a "secret" church from back in the times when protestants had to pray secretly.  This one still provides weekly services on Sunday.

As we learned in other tours, the Dutch love to give nicknames to their buildings. below on the upper left is "The Pen Tip" and next to it the two triangles are the "Two Tits".  All three are government buildings.  Below it, on the water is the Yellow Palace which is now a museum.

This body of water is a small lake.  On the right is the back of the original palace (entrance gate is below).  The island in the middle was taken over by hippies in the 1960s.  They were removed and then a year later the island was mysteriously overgrown with marijuana...

The gate to the first palace, built for Floris V., Count of Holland from 1254-1286.  It was added on to over the years and if I am remembering correctly, the current Prime Minister's office is located in one of the buildings.

Below is the current palace used by the monarchy.  It is right on the street behind a gate.  A flag is raised when they are there.  

Here is the coat of arms above the gate

Throughout the city there were a variety of hanging street lamps - and the ones near the royal palace where crowns.

Below, sandwiched between to other buildings, is the narrowest house in The Hague.

This is one of the few medieval buildings remaining, formerly a prison and now the Prisongate Museum.  It was a functioning prison from 1428to 1828.

Above is the Hotel Des Indes.  It was built as a mansion in 1858 and became a hotel in 1881. Apparently it is a very expensive and exclusive hotel.  In 1925 the hotel innovated by offering a gigolo service - basically a male dancer who would "entertain" unmarried female guests. Apparently it was used by the Nazis during the war while at the same time, Jews were hidden in the rooftop pigeon coop.

De Passage is the oldest indoor shopping center in the Netherlands. It is hard to tell in the photos, but its curved atrium style roof lights up the place.  Most interesting was the display of hat mobiles throughout each hallway

And a huge display in the rotunda.

Saw this amusing sign in front of one shop of goodies:

There was a lot of street art, sculptures, flowers, parks and unique architecture that we enjoyed as we strolled through the day.

(yes, that is a pile of poop next to him)

And of course, part of the day included "eten en drinken".  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at this historic restaurant, Bodega de Posthoorn. This was where vegan Jim accidentally (they brought the wrong order at first) ate some Indonesian beef stew.

Tomorrow we are off on the train to Paris. Au revoir.