Gouda, Den Haag and Scheveningen

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Trip Start Sep 22, 2007 Previous
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  Den Haag, Netherlands
Monday, September 24, 2007

We wake up late, then descend to the breakfast room to eat before breakfast shuts down at 10:00 AM.  (or was it 10:30?)   Breakfast is good as usual - several types of bread, slices of cheese, jams, juice, and a nice fresh apple - not one of those waxy-coated ones we get here.  We were thinking we'd like to go to The Hague today, but decide to wander around Gouda a bit first - I had read some information on Gouda last night in the room, and thought I'd like to see some of it in daylight.  And some of us thought we'd like to take along some muchies for the trip.   We find a place that's not really open yet - the lady says coffee's not ready yet, so they aren't open, but we say we don't drink coffee, so she says OK, come on in.  We browse the display cabinet and shelved behind the counter and select some decadent sweet things, then sit to eat them.  They are so rich we should have only picked two and shared.  Roel seemd to like the place.

We wander to the square and see the carnival rides packing up, and we see the weighing house, where in the seventeenth century (or earlier, I forget) they built a building for weighting cheese to be sold to reduce cheating and establishing standardized weights.  
The Hague isn't far and we arrive there in less than half an hour.  We wander around the city a bit, then head for the waterfront at Scheveningen.  We park a little ways from the big pier and as we begin to walk toward the pier, we are hit by the worst wind/sand storm I have ever been caught in.  Gary says he'll head back for the car and come pick us up.  We slip into the leeward side of a booth where the wind can't slam us so hard,  but as the wind eddies swept around the end of the building and slows, the sand the wind had been carrying in its ferocity drops from the air into our hair, eyes, and everywhere else.  Eventually the car comes and we pile in, then drive closer to our destination.

The pier is OK.  The wind is howling, breakers are pushing up the beach, and tourists are staying away in droves.  We wander out onto the pier and eat a mediocre lunch there.  Coming back to shore, we stop at a gelatto shop, purchase the yummy treats and sit down to eat, only to be told that we can't eat in the buliding.  We look around puzzled.  There are only a couple tables occupied - the place looks dead.  We give them some sour looks and leave, sitting at one of their outside tables.

We decide to wander around the Centrum where some of the more interesting buildings are.  We see tiny cars, big cars, a big church, and what I think is a palace (but it's a government centre) where we get our herring and take pictures.  One fun thing we see on our way out of there is a glass tower full of Smart Cars.  We had seen one of those in Athens, but I missed getting a picture of it, so I take a couple snap shots of the tower.

Overall, a good day.  We get back to our hotel safely and eat our raw, onion coated herring.  They aren't bad.

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Gouda canal	Smart Car anyone?	Windy day at Scheveningen	Wind Surfing
Lunch on the Pier	Shore development - from the Pier	street we parked on	I dunno - just wanted to take the picture
Grotte Kerk	car	Micky D's	Binnenhof (Parliament) Centre of Government
Fountain beside Binnenhof	Binnenhof	Binnenhof	Binnenhof
Small House	Modern Windmills	Gouda at Night	Gouda at Night
Gouda at Night	Craving a stroopwafel	Savoring onion-coated raw herring

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