When we got to the station there, I made the mistake of asking someone how to get to the hotel we had booked there, and they directed me to the no. 3 tram, which did arrive at the street required, but at #30, and the hotel was at 108. Later I saw there was travel directions on my confirmation, and we should have taken the 17. Oh well. Unfortunately, dH was lugging the big, wheel-less suitcase. I was pulling my little trolly suitcase behind...which was no problem. I told him he was living in the ice-age and we should throw out this suitcase and buy one on wheels for the next time we travel together. He gave me the usual...what for, we don't need it, this is good enough, blah blah blah.
Would you believe, that the very next day, while roaming the city, we came across a "bargain" trolley suitcase, of appropriate size, for only 25E? I forced him to buy it, and we thus abandoned the other one at the hotel. I later forced him, at least 20 times, as he blythly and effortlessly rolled the suitcase, later to Utrecht, and then on to Amsterdam and finally to Schipol airport, to thank me for forcing him to buy it!!!! It's very well designed, design wise, with handy pockets here and there and back and front, and a special strap to tie it outside. But the moment we came home (thankfully it held on till then!) the wheel section dropped off. The bolts simply disconnected as it seems to have been put together without washers, and it easily fixed. I am more worried about the zipper, actually. However, it was well worth the price!
The Hague, itself, is a nice city, with buildings, canals, bicycles, etc. That first night we walked to the center and back and ate pizza and beer (and i got quite tipsy) at a place near the hotel.
The second day, we walked to the center and back -- with internet, purchases (especially the suitcase) and icecream for lunch. We got back to the hotel around 5 and around 630 headed out to Schveningen beach. It was extremely windy, but sunny. We walked hither and thither, saw the fat seagulls, and crunched the shells along the beach, then checked out a great Movie Icon store, and looked for something of "Xena" for dS (but they didn't have). It gets dark around 1030 pm these days at that latitude. We stopped at an "Indonesian fast food" place for dinner, and then headed back. While waiting for the bus back, we were approached by an inspector, asking to see our tickets for the tram (we didn't have any) and told him we would buy it on the tram, so he explained how it was much cheaper to buy "strip tickets."
The next morning (Friday), we went around the corner to buy two strip tickets, and then set off for Delft. A charming town. I bought no real "Delft" as it is atrociously expensive, and I couldn't care less if I own any. We popped into two churches, and saw Leewanhoek's final resting place along with a whole bunch more gravestones. Boy, there are people buried in all these churches. Exchanged some traveller's cheques, did some internet stuff. By this time, of course, we had heard the "news" in Israel, and we were anxious to keep in contact with the kids.
Back to the hotel, got our stored luggage, and to the train station and headed to Utrecht. (next entry)
