Today we went to Den Haag by bike, with crazy scary clouds above our heads. After more or less forty minutes of pedaling with relative sweat we realize that we can’t understand where the city center is, so we stop at a bakkerai (bakery) to get some bread and information. After 5 minutes Bruttone comes out saying that we actually are downtown, we just happen to be in the local chinatown (we got that from the lamps). We also found a hair dryer. 

We park the bikes and pray that we’ll find them once back (we have no padlock but only a snap lock on the rear wheel) and we went towards the Binnenoff, which literally means “the courtyard”. 

This courtyard is surrounded by buildings that now host the Parliament, ministries etc. With the paid visit (€6) we watched a 1960s video with a character that could be Inspector Derrick, we visited the Knights’ room (where the queen is coming to babble in a few days) and the second room. In order to enter the Parliament, we had to pass through a metal detector. We were terrified that they were gonna find the knife (for the sandwiches) that we had in our backpack… Luckily the security is not the best! 

The city looks very much like a metropolis, chaotic and not very characteristic of Holland… long story short, we didn’t like it. 

In fact of the two days we had to spend in Den Haag, we decided that one was more than enough.

Delft remains our favorite city so far, cycling around it it’s truly a pleasure. Here it’s better to have just beer for dinner…