den haag, netherlands - part 1

it had been a while since our last trip and so, after a busy october, we decided to take another weekend break. of course, we had to choose a place to go and, as our list is still quite long, it wasn't a straightforward choice.

well, as it so happens, a good family friend from toronto is doing an internship at the international criminal court in the netherlands. since he's only there for six months, it would be good to take the opportunity to visit.

now, there are a number of routes to den haag (pronounced 'den-ach', as if you're trying to do a

poor imitation of a scottish accent) from london. you can take the eurostar from london to brussels (the same route we took just a couple of months ago) and then transfer to the thalys, another train that takes you to den haag. the eurostar takes about an hour and a half, and the thalys is another hour, which definitely makes this the scenic route.

another option is to take a train up to the eastern coast of england, to a small town called harwich. a ferry will take you across the channel to a port in between den haag and rotterdam. while we were advised this is the cheapest option, it also seemed a little complicated with a lot of transfers. so we decided to forgo it this time around.

the third, most obvious and popular route is to go to fly from london to amsterdam and take a short train ride to den haag. the flight is less than an hour and the train is 30 minutes, which means

traveling time of an hour and a half total (not including all the airport hassle), making this the quickest route. as a bonus, it takes us through amsterdam, so we might as well spend a couple of extra days there too (more on that later). it was also a big thing for us, as this was our first experience with easyjet, one of europe's prominent discount airlines.

so off we went and, just shortly after takeoff, the cockpit informed us that we were preparing for landing. this could be the shortest flight we've ever been on. we were greeted at the airport by a fair bit of rain. unfortunately, schipol (amsterdam's airport) didn't have the telescopic (and, more importantly, covered) walkways that usually connect to the airplane door, so we had to walk down a slippery and rickety set of metal stairs to the tarmac before rushing inside the terminal.

the beauty of a) taking weekend trips, and b) flying easyjet means that you generally don't have that much luggage. this makes it a breeze to embark and disembark. so after clearing customs and adding yet another stamp to our passports, we were out in the main hall of the airport.

unlike toronto, amsterdam's train network runs right to the airport, making connections super easy. the hard part was figuring out how to get tickets for the train. luckily, the little dutch that we had learned came through for us and quite shortly, we were on a train headed for den haag. actually, the timetable said the train would be leaving from platform 4 and the train was actually on platform 3. we were a little confused, as the sign on the train did say 'den haag', so we asked someone who was nice enough to confirm our suspicions for us.

the train ride was quite nice, rain notwithstanding. the route takes you by lots of very flat countryside with large expanses of field and farmland separated by canals. a few sections were dotted with cows (which the dutch love) and sheep.

we arrived at the den haag centraal station and had some time to kill before we had arranged to meet with our friend at the courthouse so we decided to go for a quick walk around the station to see what we could find. we came across a grocery store called albert heijn, and since we love to compare retail experiences in grocery stores, poked around inside to see what it was like. we picked up a bottle of water for 40 cents and carried on until we found a little restaurant for some breakfast. (one of the tradeoffs of flying easyjet is the early flight with no in-flight meal)

we had read about dutch specialties and decided to get an early start on trying them out. we ordered some pannenkoeken (pancakes) and an appletaart met slagroom (apple pie with whipped cream). to drink, we had chocolademelk (hot chocolate) and something called a wiener melange, which is like a cafe au lait.

after breakfast, we took a bus to visit the international criminal court. we actually went in to observe part of one of the trials going on, which was kind of interesting. but trials can only get so interesting, so after we'd had enough, we set off for our friend's flat.

the flat was on the top floor and was very spacious and nice, if a little cold. the stairs start off fairly normal, but by the time you get to the top, where the staircase winds around itself, it's quite steep and you are quite tempted to start using your hands, as if rock climbing. we imagine it can be quite treacherous in the dark, since the steps near the top are very narrow, only about a couple inches deep, and about half a foot tall.

the rest of our day consisted of walking around the city centre to see a couple of landmarks (e.g., the queen's house) and strolling through the shopping district. it soon got dark and we soon got hungry again, so our friend took us to a rustic cafe/pub for some traditional dutch fare (including some roast venison with root vegetables and frites in a skillet), which we thoroughly enjoyed.

satisfied and a little exhausted from a full day of traveling and walking, we retired back to the flat to unwind and prepare for the day ahead.

to be continued...