It’s the end of my first week back in the Hague; and the sun has come out. That’s not the only change since I left in December. Roads that had been closed since we first arrived way back in September are now open; barriers down, traffic cones removed. Whole new areas have opened up. There are new art installations, including several in celebration of the artist Piet Mondrian and the de Stijl art movement.
I’m not quite sure who came up with the idea of the floating blocks in the Hofvijver lake but the seagulls certainly seem to be appreciating them.
It’s almost like starting over somewhere new. I'm seeing the city with fresh eyes. The crocuses are out, creating swathes of purple beside the pavements. At Scheveningen, quickly becoming my favourite place, the pop-up beach restaurants have already popped-up. On Friday night as we sat on the pier, sipping a pre-dinner beer and a wine, watching the sun set from a cloudless sky into an uncharacteristically calm sea, we could almost imagine ourselves, if we weren’t behind glass and still wearing our coats, back in the Caribbean.
We decided we would make the most of the weekend’s good weather forecast and head out for a hike along the beach. We thought we’d just wander and see how far we got – which wasn’t actually that far. It’s hard-going walking on sand. We did deviate inland onto the manmade paths across the sand-dunes for a change of scenery, but the scenery, if I’m honest, was less than spectacular.
The Dutch landscape isn’t the only thing that’s a bit subdued We spent Sunday morning watching the NN CPC Loop Den Haag, a massive running event involving 35,000 participants which saw most of the newly opened roads closed off again. Having been a spectator at the London marathon a couple of years ago it was quite noticeable how low-key this event seemed to be in comparison. There were several races on the agenda, including a 5 K, 10K, kids races and a half marathon. We seemed to be the odd ones out as we clapped and cheered as the participants ran, jogged and staggered past. We were at the 1K mark – but the crowds were pretty thin, and surprisingly (for the Dutch) unvocal, which seemed a bit of a shame.
However, with the sun out it was a day for doing stuff – not standing around. The bikes came out of hibernation and we decided to go for a cycle. My gears had seized up and Mr T’s front-brake had stuck, but after quick massage and a splash of oil off we set.
We headed for the Haagse Bos, an area of woodland we hadn’t explored before. The Dutch Royal family have a house in the Bos, and although we found the palace, sadly, there was no sign of Willem and Maxima pottering in the grounds. The house appeared to be undergoing a complete renovation but presumably if the Dutch Royals are anything like the British, they'll have several other residences to decamp to, or maybe they were hiding out in a mobile home around the back.
Disappointed, we carried on and came to a large garden centre. Now I love a good garden centre. On a Sunday in the UK, a garden centre would be heaving with customers. But this is the Netherlands. The garden centre was closed. My inner American screams why isn't everything open 24/7? While my it's so refreshing the Netherlands is so uncommercial side appreciates why Maxima wasn’t out there with her gardening gloves on. She was probably out on a family cycle ride instead.
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