Oh, oh Den Haag......

The title is a little piece of the first sentence of a song about The Hague, it continues like this; "mooie stad achter de duinuh"....... I will spare you the rest haha, too long to wright it all down but translated it means;

The Hague, beautiful city behind the dunes and indeed, it is a beautiful city and we have been to the dunes to so I will show you both!

We walked all the way to the centre from were we lived at that moment. One of our relatives who lives in The Hague had a week holiday and they booked a holiday house in Zeeland, (one of the dutch provinces) they offered us to stay in their house so we could be in The Hague for a few days. That was very generous of them! They even had put some of our favourite beer in the fridge!

Fred is born in The Hague so especially for him it was a special time. I think we might have been walking approximately 10 k's that day. We also passed the famous "Haagse Markt"; market.

The Hague is the largest Dutch city on the North Sea and includes two distinct beach resorts. This also explains all the fresh fish on the market.

In the old days Fred's dad had a fruit and vegetable shop and a tricycle (pushbike with three wheels and a wooden box on it) and this was the spot he always stood, selling his merchandise...

The Mauritshuis is an art museum . The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 841 objects, primarily Dutch Golden Age paintings

The Hague is the seat of government in the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population just over 500,000 inhabitants (as of 1 November 2012) and more than one million inhabitants including the suburbs, it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

City life concentrates around the Hofvijver and the Binnenhof, where the Parliament is located.

The arch to "het Binnenhof "  (The Inner Court)

Can you imagine; these buildings were founded around 1250!! Started as a hunting residence for Count Floris IV and later as a palace for his son!

This is "het Binnenhof" (The inner court)

De Hofvijver  (Royal Pond)

De Gevangenpoort (Prison Arch)

This is Paleis Noordeinde. 

The Hague is the residence of the Dutch monarch, and several (former) royal palaces can be found in the city. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands work in the Noordeinde Palace.

You can see when some of the royal family is present as then the Flag hangs out.

A statue of "Willem de Zwijger" (William the Silent)  in front of the palace...

Het Vredes Paleis!  (The Peace Palace)

The city of The Hague contributes substantially to international politics: The Hague is home to over 150 international organisations.

The foundation of The Hague as an "international city of peace and justice" was laid in 1899, when the world's first Peace Conference took place in The Hague.

 The main beach resort Scheveningen, in the northwestern part of the city is a popular destination for tourists as well as for inhabitants. With 10 million visitors a year, it is the most popular beach town in the Benelux area. Kijkduin, in the south west, were we started our bike tour, is The Hague's other beach resort. It is significantly smaller and attracts mainly local residents.

Cycling through the dunes.......

from Kijkduin........

 to Scheveningen is about 4 or 5 k's...

The earliest reference to the name 'Sceveninghe' goes back to around 1280. There is anecdotal evidence of the name Scheveningen being used as a shibboleth during World War II to identify German spies: they would pronounce the initial "Sch" differently from Dutch native speakers.

 The harbour had been constructed in 1904...

Each Spring dozens of beach bars/restaurants are being build up, in Autumn they are taken down again.

Check out Scheveningen’s most traditional event; "Vlaggetjes dag".  This day of flags is to celebrate the arrival of new herring in the harbour.  An event not to be missed.....

Dutch people who read this and live abroad, will be reading this with mouth watering excitement! 

There is much more to see in The Hague (forgot to tell; also pronounced; 's Gravenhage) , unfortunately I don't have more pictures so you have to check it out yourselves.

See you next time guys!!

Cheers!