Hubby had to work in the Netherlands last week, so I went with him. Because I could.
I still had to work (more on that later), but I also had some free time so I took the time to see the one place in Holland that I wanted to go to but hadn’t seen – The Hague. Or as it is known in Dutch, Den Haag.
Hubby travels to the Netherlands at least once a year for his job. I have only tagged along once before, but we also went to Amsterdam on our own previously. On my last “business trip,” we stayed in a town called Hoek van Holland, which is near Hubby’s work. Hoek van Holland means Hook of Holland is a small resort town that juts into the North Sea. There isn’t much happening in the town when it’s not summer (and I’ve never been in summer), but it does have easy access to a train that can get you just about anywhere. Last time I was here, I spent time exploring Rotterdam and Delft (my favorite), but I ran out of time before I could get to The Hague.
This time around, the hotel in Hoek van Holland was full (yes, one hotel), so we ended up staying in Naaldwijk. Naaldwijk is east of Hoek van Holland but not on the water, and unfortunately did not have access to to the train. It did, however, have a bus that could get me to the train, so I decided that I was going to venture out to finally visit Den Haag.
First, let me explain Hubby’s “glamorous” travel that he does for his job. Yes, he gets to travel all over the world, and sometimes he gets to go to really cool and exciting big cities like Shanghai, China or Santiago, Chile. Most of the time, however, he is actually right outside of a big town in some industrial area or in the middle of nowhere, and that’s what he gets to experience most of the time he is away.
The Netherlands is a perfect example of this. Hubby’s work is actually in another town between Hoek van Holland and Naaldwijk, but it’s so small it doesn’t even have a hotel. So this is what Hubby gets to see when he travels to the Netherlands:
Pretty glamorous, right?
Naaldwijk actually had a very nice “downtown” area with a lot of restaurants and shops, but, as a I said, I wanted to see The Hague. So I Google mapped the public transportation options, double checked with the front desk, and set off on my journey. I’m pretty good with public transportation, and if I have a map of the public transportation system, I generally have no problems. The first part was easy – get on a bus and take it to the end of the line. Then I had to transfer to a tram that would take me to The Hague. This is where things started to go wrong.
My transfer spot was a transportation hub – lots of buses and trams. I knew I could take either the 4 or the 6 into Den Haag. The one thing I didn’t know was which direction I had to go. Google Maps was telling me to take the one called Den Haag (makes sense), but the map looked like I should take a different one. Finally, I asked someone (people in the Netherlands generally speak English pretty well or so they think), which train went to Den Haag, and that person directed me to the other set of tracks and the train labeled Den Haag.
About 10 minutes into my trip, I turned Google Maps back on and realized that my little arrow that represented me was heading in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. So I got off the tram, walked back across the track, cursed both Google Maps and the guy who gave me the wrong directions, and waited for a tram to take me back to where I already had been, and then on to Den Haag.
Den Haag was very cool, and there is definitely a lot to see. I ended up getting a Holland Pass for The Hague/Delft, which saved me some money on entrance fees and train tickets. Here are some highlights:
1. Binnenhof: The political center of Holland, home of the First and Second Chamber of the Staaten-Generaal (House of Representatives and Senate equivalents).
2. Noordeinde Palace and other sights on Paleisstraat and Oranjestraat
3. Mauritshuis: Art Museum featuring the works of Vermeer, Rembrandt, and others, but really highlights the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age. The Museum reminds me of some great art collector’s home. One thing I loved most about this museum is that it has a free mobile app, so with a pair of my own headphones, I could learn about the artists and their works while still navigating the museum on my own – and I could take all that information home with me!
4. Shopping! I found a lot of shopping areas and cute shops wherever I walked.
5. Panorama Mesdeg – This small museum contains a 360 degree painting by Mesdeg of Scheveningen, a nearby beach community. The painting changes slightly depending on the weather and lighting outside. There was also an exhibit on Prince’s Day, which we had just missed by a week.
6. Madurodam – I took so many pictures and videos, it’s going to get it’s own post!
I had a lot of fun exploring the city, and definitely could’ve spend more time there. I missed the market, which I’m told is amazing, and I could not find the Peace Palace until it was too late and I had to head back to the hotel. I’m glad I finally had a chance to see Den Haag!
