Another scorching day, and we notice it’s even hotter back home!
We chose to give our legs (and bottoms) a rest from cycling and took a train into Den Haag. We were keen to do a return visit to the Escher museum and planned a walking route around the city to take in the main sights.
Sadly the Binnenhof, the oldest parliament building in the world still in use, was shrouded in scaffold and undergoing major restoration. We did see our first Blow Up art installation – The Statue of Liberty’s crown landed on William of Orange who was a fervent advocate of civil and religious freedom. Next stop Mauritshuis where we decided we didn’t want to see ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’ enough to pay €45. We did, however, enjoy seeing more Blow Up art around the museum district.
Our next stop was ‘The Passage’, opened in 1882, it’s the oldest shopping centre in The Netherlands and has a real charm with glass domed arcades. When it was built, owners of the apartments above could only access through the shops which was rather a smart idea. Today, some apartments are occupied but many are boarded up which is rather sad when they would offer stylish city centre living.
Via a street market, we wandered in to Piet Heinstraat, described as one of The Hague’s most interesting shopping streets, filled with little independent shops and cafes full of locals, creating a very trendy vibe.
Finally we walked back to Escher in det Huis. We’ve been here before but Escher’s work is just so compelling and we had the pleasure of another street market to get there. The eclectic mix of stall holders gave it a slightly surreal feel.
Our day ended with an unexpected visit to the American Embassy, hosting exhibitions exploring the relevance of James Baldwin as a writer and activist as well as American writer Kathy Acker. It was an interesting experience which included watching the recording of a rather bizarre experimental radio show. It was the end of a long day, we probably didn’t do it justice and were pleased it was free.
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