Monthly Archives: November 2013

A Day at the Beach

Adventures, The Netherlands, Travelling in Europe,

Noordwijk beach

From Den Haag, I headed to Leiden. I had visited Leiden during the previous week to have dinner with colleagues. It had been a brief visit, but the town seemed pretty and I was interest. I’d looked it up on the internet later. Leiden is a university town since 1575 with canals and parks and rivers and is a transport hub. I arrive around lunch time – Leiden is only 20 km from The Hague. Leiden Central Station is also one of the nicest stations I visited in The Netherlands. It’s small enough to be comfortable and it’s well laid-out.

I wandered out and headed along the road. I passed the restaurant where I had dinner with colleagues and stopped on a bridge over a canal to enjoy the view. I was starting to get hungry but the places I passed were still closed. I reached a square with a canal, beyond it and beautiful buildings all around. There are canal tour boats tethered and I consider a tour but I was ready sit down to a leisurely lunch. I turned back and noticed that the staff of the restaurant on the corner of the square were setting up their outside area, righting chairs and wiping down tables. Perfect.

After good pizza, I headed back to the station. Lunch had been enlivened – in a pleasant way – by the arrival of a biker gang who rode up on the motorbikes and settled down to lunch. Being a biker in a country of cyclists must really make you feel like a rebel. At the station, I waited for bus 20 to Noordwijk aan Zee.

This was designed to be the quiet part of my trip. I had been out this way before – the conference that brought me to the Netherlands was in this direction – and the idea of a little time out at the beach appealed a lot. Closer and closer we got – the bus ride was 45 minutes. In retrospect, I probably could have gotten a bus directly from The Hague but then I’d have missed lunch. Also, I really do like trains.

Suddenly, with almost no change, no distinction, we were driving through a beach resort. The bus dropped me near the lighthouse. I went to the backpackers to drop off my bags and then headed straight for the sea. In South Africa I live outside the coastal city of Durban but the beach still is a good hour’s drive away. I don’t think I’ve spent any time at the beach since I moved there. This beach, on the coast of The Netherlands, right on the North Sea was exactly what I needed.

The beach was still crowded with weekend visitors when I arrived. Kite-surfers skipped across the water, children cried out, families sipped beer and hot chocolate in beach-front restaurants. I was surprised at how brown the sea was but the signs said it was a blue flag beach. The sea air felt good.

I walked along the promenade, past expensive hotels and luxury beach-front apartments. At the end, where the dunes met the road, a wagon was selling sea-food. It smelt good. I turned the corner and headed back to the main street where the backpackers was. Restaurants were buzzing and shops were all still open. I stepped into a pedestrian mall off the main street. Hundreds of people wove their way along between the shops – souvenir shops, clothes shops, designer boutiques, coffee shops, take away places, stationers and ice-cream parlours. Some were families. Parents pushed prams. Cyclists twisted between pedestrians and parked their bikes to join friends or go into shops. There were people everywhere. A child stood leaning, with her dog, waiting. High above, bells chimed from a tower dated Anno 1647.

That evening back at the hostel was sociable and fun. The communal area was a crowded with young people from all over the world, all talking and laughing.

Before I left the next morning, I went back to the beach. This time it was nearly deserted. A few people walked their dogs. The restaurants that had been so busy the night before were silent now. A long, peaceful stretch of golden sands, rolling seas and the lonely cry of gulls. I walked for ages. It was good to be alone with the sea.

Visiting The Hague

Adventures, The Netherlands, Travelling in Europe,

Sunday morning, Rotterdam. I woke up early and went down to breakfast. The breakfast room/bar/communal area was mostly quiet. I grabbed some breakfast and charged my electronics. I kept thinking about an article a friend wrote about how to deal with power on the road. The weather outside was better than it had been the night before. Before too long, I was on my way.

I walked past the Erusmas Bridge on my way to the subway station. There were two travellers ahead of me at the subway ticket machine. I watched as they realised they didn’t have change, shrugged and went to take the tram instead. If that failed, they’d take the bus. I am amazed by (and jealous of) the remarkable oversupply of public transport systems in the Netherlands.

Before I left town, I went to see the Cube Houses. The Netherlands is a strange place. Or perhaps it just feels strange to me. For example, the country seems to spend a lot of time creating strange statues and building odd houses. In Rotterdam probably the most famous, and certainly the strangest, is the Cube Houses.

Oudehaven 2 (800x529)

In the 1980s, architect Piet Blom was commissioned to build an unusual bridge over a busy road in Rotterdam. What he created became an icon of the city. The yellow cubes are actual houses where people live. One has even been converted into a backpackers hostel. Another has been turned into a museum. The architect apparently saw his design as representing trees and, together, a wood. I’m not sure I see that. I’m not sure it needs the symbolism – these strange houses are pretty spectacular all on their own.

From Rotterdam, I travelled to The Hague. I  could have taken the Metro all the way but I really am very fond of trains. So I hopped a train from Rotterdam Centraal to Den Haag Centraal instead and settled back to enjoy the short trip filled with beautiful views.

The Hague. It sounds so grand and so distant. The train drew up and people rushed off. The train station was under renovations. Outside, I tried to get my bearings (which is harder than it sounds when you’re working without a map). I headed along the road to the left. In no time I was entranced with the beautiful buildings. It really is a stately city, decorated, like a beautiful cake, with angels and cherubs and delicate balconies, looking out on soaring trees. Beautiful old buildings and memorials to hundreds and hundreds of years of history.

Along an alley (well, pedestrian walkway with trendy cafes, but still), around a corner and there stood a large statue and a curio wagon,, a clear indication that this was somewhere important, and wandered through the arch. It was. This is Binnenhof, the home of the Dutch parliament since 1446. Inside was a large courtyard, lined with neat buildings. In the centre, stands Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights), which, according to the internet, is used for the state opening of Parliament on Prinsjesdag, when the Dutch monarch drives to Parliament in the Golden Carriage and delivers the speech from the throne. As I stood in the courtyard, the bells began to ring.

Cathedral, Den Haag HDR

Church, HDR (428x800)

I walked past a lake full of seagulls (an artificial lake called Hofvijver, it turns out) with the most beautiful views of the Binnenhof. I wandered in the direction of Grote Kerk, one of the town’s main churches and the place where, according to the brief research I’d done, many of the Dutch royals have been married. It is a beautiful church, expanding out through various programmes and associations to neighbouring buildings. There was a sign on the stairs leading down to the basement that read “Hoop”.

It was strange to see the church so completely surrounded by commerce. Although, on a Sunday just after noon, most shops and restaurants were only just beginning to open. By the time I headed back towards the station, couples and friends and businessmen (or perhaps diplomats) were sipping fancy coffees and ordering expensive breakfasts at sidewalk cafes.

Peaceful Sunday Morning, Den Haag (800x451)

I had hoped to see the International Palace of Justice while I was there, but figuring out the bus or tram system with no guidebook, on a Sunday, was too much for me that day. I’m so glad I went to the Den Haag though, even if it was only for a few hours. It’s beautiful and warm and full of such wonderful history. If any of my friends ever move there, fair warning that I’ll definitely be coming to stay.

Back at the station, there was still time before the next train. I sat on a bench beside a pond and watched someone feeding the ducks and geese and seagulls and relaxed for the first time in a long while.

Finding Windmills

Adventures, The Netherlands, Travelling in Europe

It was Saturday afternoon in Alblasserdam and I’d finally managed to stop being lost. I considered wandering straight back to the Waterbus but I’d come this far and there was a a roadsign indicating that the windmills were just a few kilometers further, so I decided to keep going. It was a longer walk than I’d expected but I was walking along a pretty riverbank, with little Dutch houses on the other side of the road, so it quite pleasant. Not sure I’d recommend it to people not used to walking, however. Also, important to watch out for crazy cyclists.

Windmills and tourists (800x451)

Eventually, I reached Kinderdijk. The two sweet and elderly volunteers manning the ticket office were horrified that I’d walked all that way and directed me to a much easier (and 2.5km shorter) pedestrian (and cyclist) path I should take on the way back back.It’s just off the main road, a road filled with houses and museums and restaurants. Kinderdijk, located technically below sea-level, is a network of mills, dykes, pumping stations and reservoirs. It’s a water management system first constructed in the Middle Ages and still in operation today, although the windmills ceased to be the main method of pumping water in the 1950s. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of “the outstanding contribution

Windmills HDR 2 (451x800)

made by the people of the Netherlands to the technology of handling water.. admirably demonstrated by the installations in the Kinderdijk-Elshout area”. Also, windmills!

Next to the ticket office was a small curio shop and restaurant. It was the same kind of curio shop/restaurant you so often see at historical places in South Africa – at least in the smaller towns. It was quite quaint and by this stage I was more than ready for a cup of coffee. Outside the window, a couple sat sharing a beer.

Feeling better, I wandered off to look at the windmills. As in pretty much all of Amsterdam, watch out for the cyclists and stay off their path – they’re quite determined. The windmills were stunning. The ones I was walking between were beautiful. Tall, buildings, thatched down the sides with giant blades reaching almost to the ground and as far above. They stand spaced along the canal in the grass.

Windmill reflections (451x800)

I was fascinated to realise there were people living in the mills. It seems the mills have to kept in working condition – they’re even kept as the back-up to pump water if all other mechanisms fail – but they’re not in use most of the time, so families with young children sit and play outside their homes and wander along to visit their mill-dwelling neighbours. This afternoon, there was a man cleaning out his garage. Further along, another of the windmills was being re-thatched.

The sky was darkening and it was beginning to rain. Reluctantly, I walked across a bridge towards the pedestrian path. There were more windmills here. It was quieter here, with fewer tourists. Some of the people walking past were definitely locals. A last few magical windmills reflected in the water as the rain began to fall.

Duck, canal, windmill (451x800)

Before long, I was walking along the side of small canal, between houses, children playing in playgrounds and tall autumn trees. To the left, the view opened up and I was looking across green, green fields, cows grazing, windmills in the distance. On the water, ducks and swans and coots splashed and fished. So many people were walking their dogs. A little girl and a little boy rushed out towards the swings near their house and stopped just short of running into a swan. They’ll clearly met this kind of creature before and nervously eased their way past before rushing on. An old man, walking his dog spotted to chat to a man planting flowers. A woman with a wheelbarrow crossed a bridge to a cluster of allotments. It was a long walk and I was tired but it was pretty and peaceful.

At the other end the path, I recognized the church tower I’d seen earlier in the day and found my way back to the Waterbus station. I had about half an hour to spare, so I ducked back out into the drizzle and headed to a take away place I’d seen on earlier. The family running it was Korean. I found myself struggling to find a languages to greet them.

A rush back to the “bus” stop just as the boat arrived. As we headed back to Rotterdam, it began to rain in earnest. Fat drops splashing down around the boat and on the windows and the skylight. Past the buildings and sights and sounds, under the Erasmusbrug and we were back. I had been thinking of going out for dinner but it was warm and cozy at the backpackers. Out of the window, I watched a man in a suit, with his girlfriend on the back of his bicycle,  arrive at a posh reception at the fancy restaurant, complete with huge plate glass windows, across the street.

That night I was staying in the Art Room(dorm) at ROOM Rotterdam, a lovely room painted white, with splatters of colour splashed around the walls and crockery and cutlery stuck to the ceiling. Tired but so pleased I’d managed to see the windmills, I slipped off to sleep.