Oma & Vivi, Week 1 - Leiden, Den Haag and the North Sea

At the end of the first week of the Oma & Vivi visit, we decided to go palace/castle hunting. ...we made our way from Leiden, to Den Haag (The Hague) to Scheveningen (at the North Sea). Our total route of 50 kilometeres would take over one hour to drive one way, but since we stopped at each location, and took some back roads along the way, it was much longer than that.

On this trip, we went to 4 places:

1) Leiden Castle , 2) Paleis Huis Ten Bosch, 3) Noordeinde Palace, 4) Scheveningen Boulevard

1) Leiden Castle - Leiden Castle began as an artificial hill, was constructed in the 11th century (that's the 1000's!)and an wooden fortification was built on top of it. Around 1150 this wooden fortification was replaced by the present stone castle.

Archeological excavations showed that Leiden Castle was probably never used for permanent habitation and only served as a refuge for the people of Leiden and their belongings in times of peril. In 1203 and again in 1204 the castle was sieged by the Spanish and suffered considerable damage. As the town of Leiden grew around the castle it lost its military function in the beginning of the 14th century after almost 500 years in existence!

In 1651 the castle was bought by the town council of Leiden.
The castle was built on a strategic spot; in a bend of the Old Rhine river. Nowadays that river is reduced to a canal through the city of Leiden and can't be seen from the castle anymore due to all the 18th century buildings that surround the raised hill.

No matter how long I live here, it is amazing, awe-inspiring, and mind boggling to me that within 30 minutes of my house I can see something that is has existed for over 1000 years.

From there, we drove through Den Haag (and some very confusing summer time construction, which meant my GPS was no help at all!) and arrived at 2) Paleis Huis Ten Bosch - The Paleis used to be more accessible, but since the attack on the Royal Family on Queen's Day this year, it was no longer possible to get anywhere near the gates for a photo. We waled parallel for 5-10 minutes in a nearby wood, but there was no way to get close enough to take a picture, and while we could see it (much like this) from where we parked, there was a big closed gate now, and the two armed policeman guarding the gates and noting my license plate didn't seem like they were willing to pose for a photo op, so I'm going to have to settle for a photo I found in my search on the net, taken pre attack:

The Palace dates back to the 1600's. It has only been used again as a Royal residence since 1980, when Queen Beatrix, the current Queen, made it her residence. Before that, it had fallen into disrepair since the the Germans plan to demolish it failed in 1943. The renovations to what is seen today began in 1977.

While we were in Den Haag, I took mom and viv to 3) Noordeinde Palace- in the center of Den Haag. The oldest section of the palace dates from before 1533. In 1795, it became property of the state, as it is still is today. It has been used as the offical royal residence since 1817, except during the German invasion during WWII in 1940.

Right aross from the palace, there is a square with artwork, and various statues and memorials. One of the artworks in particular caught Vivian's eye.....here is it from the front, and then from the back..it made for an interesting photo!

From the center of Den Haag, we drove about 20 minutes to get to the North Sea and the seaside town of Scheveningen to watch the firework on the along the boulevard (totally by accident - every Friday in summer they do fireworks - who knew?!) So, that how we ended up sitting outside on the curb, at the Boulevard, sharing a pizza, watching the sunset and eating pizza on Friday night.

After all the excitement of the fireworks, pizza and being up way past bedtime, it was time to end the day on a good note.....with lots of kisses from Oma (who somehow still had enough lipstick on to leave her mark :-)

What a great end to the week!