Posted by I should perhaps title this the Hague – Day 1. This was my first venture out of Amsterdam to a different city and because it is so simple, next time I come to Amsterdam I will most definitely try to go to Rotterdam, Gouda, and a few other places!
I started off my day around 11:00 and I had hoped to get the Hague around 12:00. Unfortunately, the train never came that I was trying to catch and I didn’t get the Hague until around 13:00. Like my time in Amsterdam I walked around a lot and ended up at Madurodam. After leaving Den Haag Centraal station I walked to a restaurant called Foodzie. I ordered a latte, soup of the day (carrot, ginger, sweet potato), and a sandwich called Goatzie. The goatzie had goat cheese, mesclun lettuce, Granny Smith apple, walnuts, smoked bacon and truffle honey on a wheat baguette. So, I thought the soup would be a cup or more of a side, it was a pretty large bowl of soup so I only consumed about 1/3 of it and finished a lot of the sandwich.
After brunch, I started walking around and saw some cool art. And I know, this is so silly, but I really do love the architecture of the buildings here.
I then wandered up the road to Madurodam and let me tell you, everyone should go! It is classified as an amusement park and highlights locations and buildings in the Netherlands in a miniaturized format. I can’t even explain how delighted I was at the effort that people took to create this experience. It cost me €16,50 (if you buy your ticket online you get a €3,50 discount), but totally worth it! To be honest, a bit more worth it to me than the Moco Museum I went to yesterday, which was €12,00. I spent about 2 hours at Madurodam versus 45 minutes at Moco Museum. Here are some sample photos, the rest can be found on my Instagram account (@nataliejourneys).
I got back to Amsterdam around 17:00, came back to the hotel to recharge my phone and then had dinner at a restaurant called Bistrot Neuf. This place was soooo phenomenal! I did the prix fixe (I love that most restaurants offer this).
Starter: Millefeuille à la chicorée caramélisée, chou-rave, Bleu d’Auvergne et noisette grillée (Puffed pastry with caramelized chicory, turnip cabbage, Bleu d’Auvergne and grilled hazelnut)
Main Course: Paleron de bœuf, champignons, quiche et sauce á la sauge (Slow braised shoulder steak with mushrooms, quiche and a sage gravy)
Dessert: I don’t know the name, but it was the dessert of the day. Cinnamon french toast with cinnamon ice cream and poached pear.
What made the dinner even more awesome is I met a really nice Dutch couple! We ended up chatting all the way through my main course 🙂 Super friendly. They are the ones that suggested the chocolate place I’m going to go to tomorrow.
Musings:
- It is very helpful to be at a station where there are trains, trams, and buses. I was attempting to go to The Hague by taking the Intercity train from Station Zuid. I waited, along with 20 others, for either the 5 (tram) or M51. This never showed up, we never knew why, but we were fortunate that there was a bus stop across the street.
- Want to eat out at an awesome place on the weekend MAKE RESERVATIONS! I lucked out when I called and got a table for 21:30.
I need to go to bed. Tomorrow my goal is art and chocolate! I’m going to be super pressed for time as my flight leaves at 15:25, so I want to try and get to the airport around 13:30ish.
Natalie Journeys 