The Hague
It didn't take long for my next sightseeing opportunity to come up. The girls had an appointment in The Hague to torture themselves in the name of beauty so dad and I jumped in the car too knowing that we'd have at least a couple of hours to explore the city while they were busy.
After dropping them off we actually went to the beach first because it had been recommended to us. It was a nice day but in what I'm starting to believe is a typical June day here it was still cool, windy and frustratingly sometimes sunny and sometimes overcast. It actually changes so frequently from sun to rain and back here that I've had to re-evaluate my belief that the weather is similar to Vancouver's. It's better. At least there is some hope here that bad weather can be waited out.
So we found ourselves on a wide and very long expanse of beach called Scheveningen which attracts millions of visitors each year. The beaches and sand dunes here are all very strategic in the sense that not only do they have to be the beach, they have to serve as a barrier, protecting the rest of the country from flooding. As a result these beaches are really long and stretch most of the length of the coast. They can be quite nice, they just need warmer weather and water for me. They're doing some construction to reinforce the dyke system along the coast but there is still a boardwalk with shops, restaurants, casinos and even a pier with a bungy jump crane.
To the 2 of us, The Hague means really only one thing, the International Criminal Courts which is what we were most interested in finding. We did find it and I was a little disappointed to see that it was a more modern looking building. I was expecting something more European in architecture. I wonder how many people they get coming up to take photos of the entrance sign...
We saw a little of the centre after that. The Dutch architecture is different from the Bavarian style obviously and it's cute too. It has the typical pedestrianized streets, big churches, lots of cafes and a 17th century palace but I like that sort of thing.
We really didn't have time to do anything more than a quick run around before picking up the girls again and heading home.
Ammon
posted by The Watkins @ 10:32 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Hey Gang,
I go away for a conference, get back and it's like the proverbial feast after the famine, so much happening, so many pictures..... nirvana for the followers. This is more of the old style blogging!!!!
Have you felt much of a culture shock? Or do you get a sense of a homogenization of cultures? I work with a friend from Beijing who says he is shocked every time he goes home as it is more and more like western cultures.
Was in Toronto for the conference and stayed in the same Hotel that was hosting the first ever Indian Film Association Awards to be held outside of India. 20,000 sceaming fans day and night. Oh well.
Will you get further north? like Finland or Sweden or such? Soon you will be heading back to a strange place, which is familiar while at the same time not. Now that is culture shock.
Loving the Blogging
Love and Big Bear Hugs
Then Bear
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