Ride: 30km; total: 1,615km
Cloudy, grey sky, but fine, southerly wind
10-15km/h (riding north) 11-17deg
Nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, little sausage, bacon,
fresh kiwi fruit, yoghurt and good coffee. Managed to also get some
bacon, sausage and a banana for lunch. Got away about 8:00am and quickly got
onto the smooth path beside a canal heading north. In no time at all I was out
of the city and into rural surrounds.
Called into Delft,
which was a lovely old town/city with a beaut old town hall, town square and
cathedral. Delft
is primarily known for its historical Dutch town centre, of course complete with
canals. It’s also famous for the painter
Vermeer, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), the Delft University of Technology,
and its association with the Dutch royal family and the House of Orange-Nassau.
As I was riding into town I found a lady's red purse full of
cards, a few notes and papers, lying on the roadway, so I handed it into the
Tourist Info Centre. They said they'd ring the lady as there was plenty
of identification to go on. Had a nice long black coffee just out of town
then continued onto The Hague. From the Central Railway Station I quickly
found the Ibis Motel. The room wasn't ready so I dumped my bike and luggage and
went for a walk around the city centre. Fairly big bustling city with
some very nice old looking alleyways full of interesting shops. Found a deer park in a big park
not far from the centre, a nice touch. They also had a Chinatown
just near the city centre.
The Hague is the capital city
of the province
of South Holland. With a
population of 500,000 inhabitants (as of 1 September 2011) and more than one
million if you include the suburbs, it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam
and Rotterdam. The
Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and
parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but of course it is not
the capital. Queen Beatrix lives at Huis ten Bosch and
works at Noordeinde Palace in The
Hague. Most
foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organisations are
located in the city, including the International Court of Justice and the
International Criminal Court, which makes The Hague one of the major cities
hosting the United Nations, along with New York, Vienna, Geneva, and Nairobi. It certainly has some interesting
architecture to go with all these important world institutions and
organisations.
Since the 16th century, the stork has been the symbol of The Hague.
The room was ready about 1:00pm so I checked in and changed,
then went walking again.
For lunch I had a plate of fish pieces from a fresh seafood
place, they really know how to cook fish in Holland.
For dinner I bought some smoked salmon and plain goats yoghurt from the
supermarket. The yoghurt went nicely on top of the salmon. Total
for lunch and dinner about A$10.
Interesting art installation in Rotterdam
A deer park very close to the centre of The Hague
Is this the Stork, or a crow?
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