Holland & Belgium Viking River Cruise
Day 13: Wednesday, November 06, 2024 - The Hague, Netherlands
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s
- Steps: 14,122 Linda; 14,994 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 6
We awoke just a little earlier - fifteen minutes - to assure that we would have everything ready to go as
our luggage had to be out at 7:30.
We had our luggage out on-time, and made our way to the dining room for breakfast, and our final meal on
the ship. Not the trip, and technically not this cruise because we are doing an extension in The Hague, so
this cruise continues for two more days.
Once again, breakfast isn't something I usually take a picture of unless it is unique or an sample, for instance,
of what Linda ate every day for eight days.
In this case, it was the egg white omelet with veggies that she had.
Also during breakfast, we bid farewell to our regular servers, Rumen and Margite.
At 8:30, it was time to board the shuttle for The Hague.
There were just six of us going - Cindy and Larry, and Lorraine and Cindy.
I didn't get many pictures primarily because I was facing rearward and not forward,
so anything of interest would have been past already.
We arrived at the Hilton in The Hague, and were greeted by Eyas, our local guide.
We went inside and heard the review a city map, the day, hotel, and schedule.
As it was so early, our rooms were not ready yet.
The group headed out for "The Hague on Foot" tour .
We stepped out of the hotel and turned left, and crossed over a canal.
As we waited to cross the street, we spied a horse and carriage coming by. It turns out that they were the
Royal Horses and guards.
Just over the canal was Noordeinde - North End - street. It was essentially a main street, and the Christmas Market
street.
As we walked down said street, the carriages passed by again.
It turns out that not far further down the road is the front of the royal palace.
The carriages, as we eventually learned - Mark, our guide, spoke to one of the security officers - that the palace
was receiving various new ambassadors to the country. This is usually done every two weeks - and we just happen to
be present for this one. The ambassadors ride a loop, then arrive at the gate entrance, and the greeting ceremony
begins. The band played, assumedly, the country's national anthem after the greeting ceremony.
While the ceremonies put a bit of a delay in our walk, it was worth it.
The security tape - yes, that's what was holding us back - was removed and we continued on,
passing a number of sights including the Stock & Bonds building that is now a restaurant.
The decorations across the road - as seen in at least one of the images above, and more to follow -
is because this is considered the Royal Market street. And the lamps have little crowns on top
because it marks the route the royals usually take.
We arrived at the platz, across from the Mauritstoren, the living quarters of Prince Maurits, built in 1600.
The juxtoposition of the new city in the background with the old in the foreground.
We crossed the... street? No, plaza, and walked along the retaining pond to the far end, passing
along the edge of a park as well. The retaining pond had an island in the middle of it.
At the end of the pond, we turned right and walked to the other end of the pond. Then we turned right again and passed in
front of the Mauritshuis. We briefly discussed the museum, then continued on that street, turning right again at the end.
On the other end of the quarters, we turned right one last time, and walked along that side about half way before
turning left to go down another street, coming a half block short of walking completely around the quarters.
On the corner of the left turn was a golden arches. I ran inside - literally, which is why one of these is a tad
blurry - to get a picture of the menu. The Big Mac is €5.75.
Incidentally, for some reason it is cheaper per nugget to get the 9 piece than it is to get the 20 piece.
Down this street we also came across the other end of the passage that we passed a few minutes earlier.
Out route eventually took us to Grote Kerk, a large church.
We walked around the church and headed back north.
Eventually we imerged back on the main street, only a block or two from the palace.
We asked Mark about recommendations for somewhere for lunch. He mentioned a couple places, and even commented that
a couple ethnic restaurants require reservations. We thanked him for the tour, and information, and started wandering
about, thinking of where and what we want to eat. We happened to go down the next street and saw a couple restaurants.
We stopped in front of one, called 't Ogenblik Brasserie, or The Moment Brasserie.
While we were looking at the menu on the window, a waiter came out the door and said "Come on inside.
It is warm and we have some great lunch specials." OK, fine. We did.
We sat and started off with a couple Americano coffees.
A little bit later, Cindy and Larry just happened to stop in too.
The waiter brought us four menus, and told us about the specials.
I had a warme grillham met honingmosterdmayo en pijnboompitten, or warm grilled ham with honey mustard mayo and pine nuts.
Linda had a tuna melt, or tuna melt.
After our meal and some chatting, we headed back out.
The four of us were going to be going to the Mauritshuis Museum. However, Linda and I were traveling
at a little faster of a pace than Cindy and Larry were, so they told us to go on ahead.
We walked back down the main street to the platz, passed a jewelry store with some unusual jewelry, then
turned left along the park again.
The yellow tower at the far end of the living quarters is to allow residents and tourists to look over the wall
that was erected during some reconstruction work.
The entrance to the museum was down a level - one level underground.
We acquired our tickets, and headed up to the galleries. We went up to the third floor and made our way down.
There was a glass-enclosed elevator.
Going up the stairs on the top floor shows off the artwork on the ceiling.
We proceeded from room to room, admiring a number of works. Our two most favorite were The Girl with the Pearl Earing
and Apelles Painting Campaspe.
After a bit more than an hour, we headed out.
We headed back around the pond and to the platz.
Included in the admission to the Mauritshuis Museum, was admission to the Prince William V Gallery,
which was adjacent to the Prison Gate Museum, just off the platz.
There was a brief video in the lobby area where we learned about the Prince and the Gallery.
Then we climbed the stairs to the upper floor. There was a small receiption room with a number of paintings -
floor to ceiling.
And there was a lone main hall - a very long hall. But just the one hall.
There were no placards in the gallery like there were in the museum, there was just a book with the various works in it.
There were a few interesting pieces about.
The hall was rather narrow and getting straight-on wide shots of works was nearly impossible. The lighting wasn't any
help either. But there were a couple Rubens (the first two below, Portrait of a Young Woman and Venus Trying to
Restrain Adonis from Departing for the Hunt), Storck, Post, Honthorst, and Huchtenburgh.
As this gallery was rather small, we weren't there for too long.
Before departing, we spoke to the docent about a nearby supermarket. There was one about three blocks down - near
where we walked with Mark earlier in the day, near the Passage entrance.
We walked down to the market and picked up a light dinner.
Then we walked all the way back down the market street, and past the palace, toward the hotel.
Near the end, before crossing the street and then the canal, we stopped at a bakery window to see some yummy
looking cookies on display - yes, they have edible flowers on top.
A patron happened to be leaving when we stopped, and somehow we got into a 15 - 20 minute conversation with her
about a number of topics as she was an ExPat living with her husband now in The Hague, and we talked about Viking
cruises and we told her about this website.
We finished our walk - three more minutes of it - and went to the desk to inquire about our luggage.
After the clerk brought us to the storage room, we determined that it was already in our room.
So off we went to the second floor.
The biggest pain in the neck with new hotel rooms is trying to figure out what switches control what lights.
And some switches control lamps that may or may not be on or working. And then some switches are master
switches that turn everything on or off, but those other lights need to be on too.
While we were getting situated with our luggage, we had our meal that consisted of a salad, rolls, cheese,
wine, and a cookie from the coffee station on the ship.
We relaxed for the rest of the evening, even playing some pinochle, and then went to sleep.