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Den Haag – Scheveningen & Madurodam

On Saturday I planned on seeing Den Haag (The Hague) and the surrounding areas. With tips from the hotel crew, I zeroed in on Scheveningen and Madurodam.

Took the Intercity train from Schiphol to Den Haag – Holland Spoor and caught a tram (for the first time) to Scheveningen. Unlike the US, the Netherlands is comfortably connected by trains, buses, taxis, canals and of course, by cars. So there is never really a sense of helplessness while traveling within the city or within the country.

Scheveningen is that part of Den Haag which has the best beaches in the city. But then again, with winter just introducing itself to the country, there wasn’t much to do other than just take a stroll along the path parallel to the beach. There is a magnificent pier with upper and lower decks that ends in the water with an attached casino and a restaurant. Went to neither, but the walk along the open upper deck was very calm and relaxing. Just the right solace I wanted (Don’t take me seriously when I say solace). Scheveningen is the house to the grand Hotel Kurhaus which stands out looking into the sea like a royal signature. Took a ton of pictures and videos here but saved the best part of the handycam battery for Madurodam.

Took another tram to Madurodam from Scheveningen. Den Haag is pretty in the sense that the trams take you through the inner city neighborhood which is surrounded by so much greenery and grand houses that it is just visually very pleasing.

Madurodam is named after George Maduro (a very famous Dutch military person), and it is a 1:25 scale representation of the entire country. Just unbelievable! Just do a search on the web and check out the images. The place has everything, from miniature city palaces and historical/government buildings in Amsterdam, Den Haag and many other 12th to 17th century cities, to the industrialized Rotterdam and Amsterdam as well as an insight into the farming and shipping industry. Bang in the middle is the miniature Amsterdam-Schiphol airport with planes circling around the runway. Spent the best part of the afternoon here and with the weather changing from cloudy to sunny, gave a lot of people some terrific pictures for a memorable look back at this place.

But then again, winter just reminded that it was here to stay for its vacation and it was time for me to leave the place. It was the coolest day for me here (both literally and figuratively speaking, of course).

Back in Hoofddorp with the plans of seeing Haarlem being severely threatened by impending rains. Guess will have to leave that to next week or later.

Next on the agenda is to visit Rotterdam and hopefully get a chance to see the world famous Windmills of the Netherlands. The will truly make this a grand trip. Belgium, France and Germany will have to wait longer.

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