The Hague

Day-trip to The Hague on Sunday! I'd never made it there before, so we hopped on a train and headed out. Our first stop was Madurodam, a replica of Holland in miniature, but I'm saving those pictures for another post, I still need to sort them out. They are mostly me with a giant dorky grin on my face.

ENOUGH PICTURES.

We ended up at the beach after the Madurodam experience. It was windy. And cold. And beautiful. 

WINDSANDCOLD

I don't know why I didn't take a photo looking the other direction; the beach just goes on and on, with a gigantic boardwalk to boot. It's a terrible tourist trap, but I've never seen anything like it. Next time! By that point, it was time to move on to the city center, as my fingers were numb with cold.

Trying to figure out which historical location we had wandered into THIS time [Binnenhof!]

Wander wander wander.

We ended up at Vredespaleis, the Peace Palace, built by Andrew Carnegie to house the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice. 

Fun fact: one year after the opening of the Peace Palace, World War One broke out. WHOOPS.

Nice try, anyway, guys.

Lovely nearby tram stop, though!

One last stop at De Passage, a roofed shopping arcade built in 1882. It charmed me with a store dedicated exclusively to ballpoint pens of all shapes and sizes.

 Magical miniatures tomorrow!