Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands

We finally made it to Den Haag. What a cool city! Simon likes it even better than Amsterdam. I really like it also (but Amsterdam will always have my heart).

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Wish I’d gotten a better pic of this (snapped this as we were driving by). Not only do they have double decker bike racks, but behind that there is a MASSIVE bike only parking garage (the same size as American parking garages for CARS)! To say biking is a major mode of transport here is an understatement!

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electric cars and charging stations everywhere

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Courtyard of the place we stayed. It was completely enclosed so the girls could run around unsupervised to their heart’s content.

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their room

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doors to the street

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Our apartment was right on a canal!

cool buildings

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Lots of outdoor cafés around this square. Of course the girls only had eyes for those pigeons!

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What a beautiful building. Hey! I know what it needs in front of it….

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…an outdoor public pissoir!?!  And yes- that’s Simon using it.  Amsterdam also has lots of these (that drain straight into the canals!). What about the ladies?! We have to stand in long lines and PAY to pee!

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Sorry about all of the building pics (and yes, more are coming). They are just SO beautiful- I can’t resist!

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Even the Burger King building is beautiful!

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Royal Palace

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The Queen (at least when we lived here 15 years ago!). Now her son rules.

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Saw this needlepoint in a store window. It shows the Dutch Royal rulers since 1815. Check out all of the ladies!

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You’ll find references to the famous Vermeer painting Girl with a Pearl Earring all over the city. The original painting is in Den Haag’s Mauritshuis Museum (we saw it!).

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modern version 🙂

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Shopping street. Check out the hanging crown lights!

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We found this old dollhouse in a shop window. Check out the detail (below)…

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cupcake store

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The main grocery store here. I had to stop in to buy some Hot Krokantjes. I hadn’t had them since we lived here 15 years ago!

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the girls loved them

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They also asked to buy Hagelslag. It’s like chocolate sprinkles but a little bigger (and better). People sprinkle them onto buttered bread here.

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Quinnie spotted some Doritos (extremely hard to find in Germany)!

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Had to get a pic of a Febo. It’s basically hot vending machine food. Perfect for drunk people on their way home from the bar at 3am.

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By this point Kiera was done with walking. Can you tell?

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So we decided to stop for sushi (their favorite).

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cute house near the Peace Palace

Two more Den Haag posts coming up!

 

Netherlands Open Air Museum (Arnhem, The Netherlands)

This national museum (created in 1912) has antique houses and farms from different parts of The Netherlands. They have reenactors demonstrating the everyday life of Dutch people in the past.

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The girls were invited in for a cup of tea by one of the reenactors. She made it the old fashioned way with brown rock sugar.

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Quinnie was fascinated watching the blacksmith work.

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big looms

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laundry room

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Kiera loved participating in anything laundry related (!)

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They had these old fashioned bikes for kids to try out. Quinnie loved it!

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The girls spent a LONG time with the animals (no surprise there!).

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There was a great playground…

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cool spinner

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Quinnie milking a cow (water squirts out)

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Put your back into it girl! (she cracks me up)

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I didn’t know they were so into manual labor- I’ll have to put them to work at home!

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scrubbing laundry again- she loves it (lol)!

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café

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Inside one of the windmills they had an exhibition about Arnhem during WW2, and the mass exodus.

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paper mill

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inside the paper mill (watching paper being made)

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Next to the paper mill was an old fashioned printer’s shop where the girls printed their own windmill postcards (above)!

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We took the vintage train back to the parking lot. We were pretty tired by this point but had a great day!

Here’s more info on the Netherlands Open Air Museum