James Tucker in Cov

I spent only a few hours in the Hague, but from everything I saw, it is one of the quietest 'capitals' in Europe. Technically, it's only the Seat of Government, but as far as I can see, Amsterdam's being the capital means absolutely nothing. There are some nice streets of small embassies, an out-of-the-way business district, a modest downtown palace (and apparently a pretty big one on the beach I managed to miss, and the Dutch Parliament. I walked through a small brick gate, and sat down on the steps of what I thought was a church while I tried to work out just where the parliament buildings might be. Of course, I was sitting on the front steps of them, at 10 AM on a weekday (left), and only was there nothing going on, there was no security or police. Forget some massive act of sabatoge, I could have written my name on the doors in chalk and gotten away. Still, it was a nice first taste of the Netherlands, and a contrast with Amsterdam, which was absolutely teeming. At the bottom of this entry is a somewhat more scenic picture of the Hague. And a picture of a herring stand.
Amsterdam seems to be mainly four squares and a number of concentric canals. As such it's hard to feel as if you're ever at the centre of it, even when you are. It's nice enough, but the tourism and sheer press of the place sometimes made it a little hard to take, especially in contrast with the small towns a half-hour train ride away. As you might expect from a city built on mud, almost none of the buildings are strong on right angles (right) Gareth and I rented bikes there, and boy is it nice to ride them. The special lanes are a bit above the road, and a bit below the sidewalk, and you essentially have the right of way over anyone- pedestrian or car. As the whole country is also very flat, it makes cycling a bit of a dream- you don't really have to think about it. Everyone in the Netherlands biked, too. Men in business suits, students headed to convocation, parents with their children hanging off the back. And though noone really had flashy bikes, and though there were more bikes than people, theft is apparently an issue, because everyone was scrupulous about locking their bikes to every possible surface. Often twice.