Well our 2 weeks have just about come to the end. Tomorrow we fly out to Athens and Mar flys back to Edmonton. We've had a great time! Weather only got rainy and cloudy the last few days.
Today we went to Scheveningen to check out the pier and the shops along the beach. We did not visit the pier 2 years ago so this is also something new for us. Even though it was windy and cold walking outside wasn't to bad for a short distance! We ducked back inside at the end of the pier to have coffee and cake :) The last day here means a few extra treats :)
The pier was originally built of wood in 1901 but in 1943 it was destroyed by a fire. Then rebuilt in 1959 using concrete. But by 1991 it was in bad shape and bought for 1 Dutch guilder (about $2.50C)! The new owners spent 20 million euros and by 2013 the company was bankrupt due to a fire in 2011. A new group bought it in 2014 and today it has restaurants, small hotel, ferris wheel, bungy jumping, zip lining.
After walking back thru the covered part of the pier with shops and restaurants we wondered along the boulevard . The hotel known as the Kurhaus of Scheveningen is right near the pier and was built in 1885. It was well known in the 60's for all the top bands that played in the concert hall. The last band to play there were the Rolling Stones in 1964. The hotel was closed in 1969 because of disrepair and was going to be demolished in 1975, but instead reopened again in 1979 after being listed as a historical building and totally renovated. Luckily because it's a beautiful building. Didn't go in though to see the inside. Think it would be pretty posh and expensive :)
We went into a shopping centre nearby to warm up. Walked around and checked out some of the stores. Bought myself scarf and so did Mar. Then it was time to head back to the car since the meter would soon run out of time.
We then headed to Leiden to check out the windmill De Valk originally built in 1743. Today it was open so we found parking underground - after we first drove onto the large open area next to De Valk which I guess is only for pedestrians because I went into the windmill office to find out and she said we had to move otherwise would be towed LOL!! Oh well, drove off and back onto the road and found the underground parking (my maps.me showed parking here but how am I suppose to know its UNDERGROUND not above ground??LOL!!) Its not always easy here to determine what are roads/walkways/bike paths since the roads here can be very narrow!
Once we got parked we headed to the windmill. We found it really interesting when we were here last time and figured Mar would like it. Even though after the 2nd storey the steps up and down are very steep. You have to go down backwards because they are so steep.
Once we were finished touring the mill we headed to an area where we hoped to find restaurants and free parking! Well we did find free parking under the shopping mall a few kms away. But above were 2 grocery stores and other retail stores but only 1 restaurant which was full. So thought we could buy some takeout from the Albert Heijn store. Looked around and found some snacks. We had brought our salads but had no forks to eat it with 😜
We then headed to the BnB because it was raining out. We got settled in - quite a nice place. The son and mother rent out 3 bedrooms and the rest of the house is available to us to use. But we will be going out for our last dinner.
The pier was originally built of wood in 1901 but in 1943 it was destroyed by a fire. Then rebuilt in 1959 using concrete. But by 1991 it was in bad shape and bought for 1 Dutch guilder (about $2.50C)! The new owners spent 20 million euros and by 2013 the company was bankrupt due to a fire in 2011. A new group bought it in 2014 and today it has restaurants, small hotel, ferris wheel, bungy jumping, zip lining.
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| Walking on the outside part of the pier with a restaurant at the end |
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| Pic from internet. Building closest to bottom is hotel and rooms are $300Can |
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| The beach looking south |
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| Ferris wheel, Bungy jumping and ziplining on other side of pier |
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| A bunch of balls that are tethered on the beach just to play with :) |
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| The glassed in section is the shopping/restaurant area |
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| Looking north of pier |
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| Cold and windy on the Pier! |
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| Looking back to Scheveningen/Den Haag |
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| You normally don't have to go to far find kibbeling and frites :) (fish and chips) |
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| Kurhaus of Scheveningen |
After walking back thru the covered part of the pier with shops and restaurants we wondered along the boulevard . The hotel known as the Kurhaus of Scheveningen is right near the pier and was built in 1885. It was well known in the 60's for all the top bands that played in the concert hall. The last band to play there were the Rolling Stones in 1964. The hotel was closed in 1969 because of disrepair and was going to be demolished in 1975, but instead reopened again in 1979 after being listed as a historical building and totally renovated. Luckily because it's a beautiful building. Didn't go in though to see the inside. Think it would be pretty posh and expensive :)
We went into a shopping centre nearby to warm up. Walked around and checked out some of the stores. Bought myself scarf and so did Mar. Then it was time to head back to the car since the meter would soon run out of time.
We then headed to Leiden to check out the windmill De Valk originally built in 1743. Today it was open so we found parking underground - after we first drove onto the large open area next to De Valk which I guess is only for pedestrians because I went into the windmill office to find out and she said we had to move otherwise would be towed LOL!! Oh well, drove off and back onto the road and found the underground parking (my maps.me showed parking here but how am I suppose to know its UNDERGROUND not above ground??LOL!!) Its not always easy here to determine what are roads/walkways/bike paths since the roads here can be very narrow!
Once we got parked we headed to the windmill. We found it really interesting when we were here last time and figured Mar would like it. Even though after the 2nd storey the steps up and down are very steep. You have to go down backwards because they are so steep.
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| The Livingroom in the mill |
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| The kitchen |
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| Etching on the back door |
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| These are the easy steps! |
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| Different types of windmills - this one would be used to move water up the canal |
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| This shows the turning mechanism used to turn the windmill into the wind |
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| Dwayne at the turning mechanism outside De Valk |
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| The steep steps used to get higher in the windmill |
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| Flower market in the mall. Dwayne said we would go broke because I would always be buying flowers! So beautiful :) |
We then headed to the BnB because it was raining out. We got settled in - quite a nice place. The son and mother rent out 3 bedrooms and the rest of the house is available to us to use. But we will be going out for our last dinner.
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| Views from our room |
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| Not huge but works for $85C |
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| Mar just has to remember to watch her head! |
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| The shower room |
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| Bringing luggage up these stairs was not fun for Dwayne ;) We ended up driving back into the centre of Leiden to have supper. We enjoyed our last dinner of kibbeling and frites 😠Now time to get final packing done to head out in the morning by 8:30. Tot Ziens!! |
Now that's one place I know I didn't get to on any of my trips to the Netherlands (Scheveningen). Looks like a nice BnB. You should see how steep the stairs are in those canal houses in Amsterdam! That's where we stayed each time we went to Amsterdam. And that was when I didn't know better about packing light -- we each had huge & heavy suitcases to carry up the stairs! Crazy ;-) It's great to know that people did rejuvenate those places, like the pier and the hotel. It would have been a shame if they'd have just been let go until they needed to be taken down.
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