The Hague

I went this morning to The Hague, which is only about 50 minutes by rain from downtown Amsterdam. It was nce to see Amsterdam in the morning, before the tourists and the bikes overwhelm the streets. Its a much prettier place when no one is around, I think.

I visited the Parliament buildings, the Grote Kerk(Church), and got lost for an hour looking for the Peace Palace. When I finally found it, I was very disappointed to find that it was closed. Just my luck. I had every intention of going down the see the North Sea, but it was unfortunately a bit chilly and I was not dressed for the weather, so I decided against it.

I had lunch at a nice little Italy restaurant and then visited the Mauritshuis Museum, which contains several Rubens, Rembrants, and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Vermeer. Exciting. Not really.

When I got back to Amsterdam, the city was in full force. I had the good chance of seeing a tourist knock over a bike, which knocked over another bike, which fell into the canal. Awesome.