Have you
ever been to Holland? I hadn’t been before this August J In fact, after getting the
multi-visa, The Netherlands became the dream destination for the nearest
furute…em, actually not The Netherlands in a whole, but specifically Amsterdam.
So it was quickly decided that the week before my birthday and my birthday
itself would be spent in this “must visit” city with my friend.
But what
would you do if your friend couldn’t have joined you for the whole week, but
only for few days? That’s right – search for another options! Probably I was
lucky enough this summer, because a slightly different way of spending this
week appeared sooner than I expected. It turned out that my colleague was on a
short international assignment in The Hague (or in den Haag, if you wish J) and kindly invited me to stay at
her place for a couple of days. And trust me I am not an idiot to say “no” to
such opportunity. She warned me of luck of free time she had had and advised to
plan also something on my own. Been there, done that! J
To tell you
the truth, I hate planning anything, as plans never work out and are always
influenced by different circumstances. So by the time I got on the plane Kiev –
Schiphol, all I knew was that I would visit few different cities, go to the sea
(obligatory!!!) and then spend 4 days in Amsterdam with my friend. Almost a
plan, right?)))
And here it
was…Schiphol! One of the biggest airports, where you can even have a wedding
and then fly to the honeymoon. But with whole this romance, I don’t think Schiphol
and I have become even friends. Guys, it is enormous and so complicated for a
simple blond girl, who, by the way, has been to lots of huge and weird
airports, but this one has not become my type.
But even
this couldn’t ruin my mood, as I arrived to The Netherlands and was going to
live in the best apartment I have ever been to. But before this, some small
tips for you, which can be useful at your arrival:
- first of
all download on your phone NS Reisplanner. With this magical app you will be
able to plan any trip across Holland you like and the best part is that you
will know the exact time and platform you will need to go to find the train.
This program will be very useful in the airport, as you won’t need to search
for screens with information above each platform and will be able to plan you
time after you’ve landed.
- you
should easily find the ticket sales point and there are two options: yellow
machines and the cash desk. For a newbie I will totally recommend the second
one. Machines don’t accept paper cash; they probably won’t accept Visa cards…so
why will you need so much stress from the beginning???
- Other two
options are to buy a single ticket or to by NS pass. I had a pass with me
already (thanks to another colleague of mine), so needed just to put some money
on it. If you’re going only to one place specifically, better option is to buy
a ticket, but if you’re planning to explore several cities, buy this pass and
you won’t need to rely neither on the machines, nor on cash desks working hours.
- And some
small last tip: Wi-Fi in Holland is almost everywhere and in the trains as
well. So in case you need to contact anyone or to make a route to your
hotel/apartment this small advantage will be very useful. It has become to me
by the way, as I needed to inform my colleague, that I had arrived and was
already heading to The Hague.
- Oh, oh,
how could I forget? Take an umbrella with you. I mean it. Even though, I’ve
never been to UK but heard a lot of stories about rains whole the time, Holland
seems to be the same and in fact, even in summer. When I arrived to The Hague
it was raining cats and dogs and luckily there was a roof under which I could
wait my colleague for some time. Hopefully the sun decided to show up in some time.
So after
I’ve used all those tips (except for umbrella) I’ve finally arrived to The
Hague central railway station. You won’t imagine what happened next. I found
myself on the 30th floor in an amazing white apartment 5 minutes
away from the railway station with the city view, with the sea view and with
the sun set view and with a separate cozy room prepared just for me. Could I
dream about anything more amazing? I doubt so… J
To tell you
the truth, I haven’t spent much time exploring The Hague, it became kind of a
starting point for me to travel to Rotterdam, Utrecht, Gouda and to my final destination
– Amsterdam. In order not to make a mess I would tell you guys about these
awesome places in separate post, because some of these cities are just worth of
attention.
Still,
there was one place I went in The Hague and people who already know me a bit
will quickly guess what it is. Right! To the sea! Where else I could have gone
anyway?
There is a
magical place in the suburb of The Hague called Scheveningen with a long beach
line, cool seafood restaurants and amazing fairy houses that are standing there
for more then 300 years. You will need to have a 30 minutes bike ride there…oh
right! Bikes! How could I forget about them now? I am in a bicycle country!
Some few
words on that first. I’ve never seen such huge amount of bikes before, I’ve
never seen the special parking areas for the bikes before either, I’ve never
thought that all the bicycles have two lockers in order not to be stolen (that
is quite common in Holland by the way – mostly like a hobby). My colleague
offered me hers, as she had two. In new buildings in which she was leaving
there is a special parking place for bikes on the ground for. Well, that is
somehow understandable. But imagine my surprise when I saw that there are
special stairs in order you can easily pull out your bike out to the street
without any efforts!!! All around it seemed to me, that there is nothing more
special for all citizens of the Netherlands then their bicycles J
But anyway,
for me there is nothing more important then sea, so I will continue telling you
about that awesome place with long and complicated name – Scheveningen. The
road there is amazing. Don’t go there by car, as you won’t notice all those fancy,
old and very expensive villas on the way to the beach. It seems like each has a
long history back to some 16-17th century. They are all so
different, but extremely beautiful and charming. The bicycle road is going
straight near all of them – so take your time just gazing (but don’t forget
about safety!).
And here I
was…beautiful sea with yellow sand (won’t mention much about the weather as it
was +16), relaxed Dutchmen walking or riding back and forth, some are walking
their dogs, others playing with children…the place is just perfect for the rest
and not thinking about anything. I’ve parked my bike and went straight to the
sea – cold, dark and not calm at all, but amazingly beautiful and welcoming.
Only then I’ve realized that it has been already an hour that I had been
sitting and staring not thinking about anything at all. Nirvana?
To end this
perfect trip, get on your bike and have a small ride around the suburb, admire
all those small old pretty houses; talk to locals (as they are very welcoming, or
that was me lucky again?) and with full baggage of emotions feel free to come
back to the city. For the people staying
directly in Scheveningen I would recommend to feel it also in the early morning
with a small run along the sea or at the evening admiring the sun set. I can hardly
think of anyone who won’t like this place after all.
Have you
ever been to Holland? Did you like it as I did? And if you’re interested in
details of how I liked it even more, stay tuned (and I do promise to post
sooner, then this post – it is just autumn guys with all its problems and
uninspirational mood). And of course I will tell you about the place I’ve liked
the most and the place I haven’t felt anything special about (and I am sure you
will be shocked of my choices). See ya
<3
