An Italian Family in Dutch Wonderland : Sun, Sand, Tulips, and Windmills

Today we took advantage of the nice weather and took a road trip to The Hague (Den Haag). While Amsterdam is presently the capital of The Netherlands, the majority of the government events take place in The Hague, which was the capital until 1806. This is where the newly appointed King lives, where the international courts are, and all of the government offices are.

Today, we went to the coastline of the area, though. We went to a town called Scheveningen, which sits along the North Sea. The beaches were beautiful and the boardwalk was...unique. The kids loved the beach. We found one down towards the end of the boardwalk that was less crowded and right near the port so we got to see several large boats coming in and out. Wow! The water was freezing but the kids and Bill dove right in. Momma was content just putting my feet in the bitter waves and taking pictures of all of the fun!

There were lots of places to sunbathe and eat along the shore but many seemed expensive and formal for a beach. Many of them had large chaises and you could sit in the sun, drinking and eating the day away with your feet in the sand. We opted to walk the boardwalk about 2 miles down to a pier that jetted out in the sea. On the boardwalk, we saw a Zumba class taking place along with 4-5 different country line dancing groups dancing away to live singers. ALL of the dancing was right on the boardwalk! It was definitely an interesting experience. The pier left a lot to be desired. It looked like at one point there were shops and restaurants but all that was left was the VVV (the town's information booth) and a shaky bungee jumping experience. The pier itself almost gave me a heart-attack....missing and broken boards and nails sticking out in quite a few spots. It definitely would not have been "stronger than the storm." The kids loved watching the crazy bungee jumpers and Kayla is already asking how old she has to be before she can jump! When pigs fly sweetheart! We did find lunch and snacks while on our walk. Roman was in his glory. He got a giant hotdog and real (just like at home) mustard. He's been looking for a hot dog for the past 9 days as this is his favorite food. The best view of all from the pier was of the WWII bunkers up on the hill...another bit of history. We did walk up to the bunkers but they were closed. After asking at the VVV, they are only open to the public one day a week. I got a better picture from the pier than I did on the street when we walked up to it.

After the beach, we surprised the kids with a trip to Madurodam (www.madurodam.nl). This place is a miniature replica of many Dutch sights in towns and cities from around the country. We all had an absolute blast exploring. There were several interactive exhibits. The kids put in their coins and out came little wooden clogs, tulip pins, and even mini Mars candy bars. The kids loved seeing what else in The Netherlands that we could go visit. Seeing the whole country in abbreviated, mini versions was so much cooler than reading about it in our Lonely Planet books. We've now added castles, clog making, cheese markets, windmills, and tulip farms to our list and want to go back to Amsterdam to see more museums! We spent about 3 hours at Madurodam and it was well worth it.

First steps in the North Sea