Den Haag & Rotterdam

Photo: The Hague International Court

When I left Amsterdam it was clear and sunny
and it was going to be a beautiful day. However,
when I reached Den Hague (Den Hague is mixing
Dutch and English) it was greay and wet. Den
Haag is the seat of government in the Netherlands
but Amsterdam is the capital of the nation. I dont
know how that works exactly. I was quite excited to
see the government buildings because I expected them
to be extremely old and ornate. This, however was
not the case. The government buildings are brand new
and, in their own right, quite architecturally
stunning, but not what I was expecting. I walked
around Den Haag for an hour or so but it was
getting continuously colder and wetter, so I
stopped for a brunch. I don't know if it is me but
European cites are extremely quite before 12pm.
I continued to walk but the rain broke my spirit
and I moved on to Rotterdam.

Although it was still raining in Rotterdam it
wasn't nearly as torrential.Rotterdam is quite
a modern city and has one of the largest ports in the
world. Apparently, Rotterdam was completely
destroyed during World War II and was rebuilt.
There wasn't much to see in Rotterdam on a Monday,
all the museums are closed. They do have a museumpark
which is not really a park,but a few museums
close together. I only spent one night in Rotterdam and
the morning I was to leave I decide to go to the
Euromast, which is essential a lookout tower.
When I left the hostel, it was quite a nice day,
at least the sun was shining but when I got to
the Euromast it was raining hard and the wind
was quite ferocious. I tried to wait it out on the
Euromast, I waited 30 minutes, but it didn't
look like it was going to subside so I left.
Quite literally 10 minutes later it was beautifully
sunny again, I guess I was not meant to see
Rotterdam from 150 meters in the air.
After my disappointing trip to the Euromast
I moved on to Antwerp.

Next on the itinerary is Antwerp, where I will be
spending two nights, then on to Brussels for
2 or 3 nights. I hope to see Ghent or Bruges and
Han-sur-Lesse while I am in Belgium.