Day 9 – Thursday, April 12 – The Hague and Delft
Since in our first two days in Amsterdam we had seen the majority of the sites we wanted to see, on our third day we took a day-trip to The Hague and Delft. Becky walked us to the metro station and made sure we had the right tickets, and we jumped on the train to The Hague. The train ride was easy and only took about 45 minutes. When we exited the train station in The Hague we were a little disoriented, but finally made our way to the Parliament complex.
It turns out that like in Amsterdam, almost everything in The Hague is currently under renovation, so we saw a lot of beautiful and important buildings and museums from the outside. The Parliament buildings are beautiful, and it was interesting to see the rows and rows of bikes parked outside. Seems that even those in Parliament don’t drive around the city.
From the Parliament complex we made our way along the streets and canals to the Panorama Mesdag Museum. If you happen to find yourself in The Hague, this is a must see. The entire museum was built to house one piece of art – a cylindrical painting that is 14 meters high, 40 meters in diameter, and 120 meters in circumference. I don’t think I’ve ever spent 20-30 minutes looking at one painting before. Standing in the center with sand and beach furniture around you, I truly felt as if I could walk off the platform and into the beach and quaint little city pictured in this painting.
From the museum we continued our walk toward to Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice. While we couldn’t go inside (its not open to visitors right now), we at least got to see the beautiful building and grounds from outside. We also visited the eternal peace flame installed in 1999, which is seven flames from five continents brought together by 196 different nations. From the peace palace we found a cute little café to have lunch, then walked to the palace and through its gardens. There were some incredible statues and art throughout the gardens. Our last stop in The Hague was the Old Church, which, of course, was not open to visitors. The outside was beautiful, as I imagine the inside probably would have been too. From there we found the stop for Tram 1, and jumped aboard for the 20ish minute ride to Delft.
Like in The Hague, we found art all over the streets of Delft. It’s a quaint little town, known for its production of “Delftware” – the blue and white pottery famous in the Netherlands. We started our walking tour of Delft at the Oude Kerk (Old Church) and this time we were able to go inside. This church was first founded in 1246 and has been renovated many times since then. Both the outside and the inside of the church were beautiful. The inside feels very open with very high ceilings, made of wood. Like in the church we visited in Amsterdam, the floor of this church is made up of over 400 graves. I was excited to visit the grave of Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who invented the microscope.
From the Old Church we made our way to the market in the center of town, which was selling everything from cheese to meets to flowers to clothes and shoes. Just on the other side of the square is the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), which was out next stop. The New Church dates back to the 14th century, and is the home of the crypt of the princes of Orange. The crypt itself is not open to the public, and only a few people are allowed to go in there. We spent some time exploring the church and the massive monuments to those buried in the crypt, then watched a video from 2004 – the last time the crypt was opened (for Queen Beatrix’s parents). The New Church is known for its bell tower, the second tallest in the Netherlands. Rick Steves recommended climbing it for a beautiful panorama of the region, so we did. Jeremy and I made our way up the 360 foot tower, winding up stair after stair. Reaching the top and walking out onto the narrow walkway circumnavigating the tower, the whole climb was worth it. The views were absolutely stunning. On the way up, we got to see the bell towers and gears that run it, which was also really cool.
From the church we made our way back through the square and toward the Synagogue (Klal Yisrael). Like everything else in The Hague, the synagogue is under renovation and is not currently open to the public. So, we saw the building from the outside. It was getting late in the afternoon, so Jeremy and I made our way to the train station to head back to Amsterdam. We had an interesting experience with the train station bathrooms, where for 50 cents you get 15 minutes in the bathroom. The metal seat descends, and when you’re finished you put your hands into a hole in the wall and get water, then soap, then a dryer. The train ride back was uneventful – we changed trains and got back to Becky and Eric’s apartment. While we were gone Becky had prepared a beautiful salad full of fruits and vegetables, and we had a lovely dinner all together.
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