Previously on Part 1, I visited the Peace Palace (International Court of Justice), and had a sumptuous Indonesian lunch (you could call it nasi campur):
https://weesertan.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-hague-part-1.html
It was a wet day, and I called it quits by 3pm. I spent the rest of the day at The Golden Stork Hostel reading.
~~~
On day 2, I woke up to find the sun shining brightly, and some clouds on the horizon. I would need to leave for Bruges (in Belgium) after lunch. In the interest of time, I decided to skip the walking tour, and head to the seaside - Scheveningen, which faces the North Sea.
I took the City Tram to Scheveningen, and by 9.30am, I found myself walking along a pleasant seaside village.
Always been a fan of the sea
Beach front
July is not a summer month in the Netherlands?
The beach front was quite deserted. But you could imagine how it would be during the summer months.
Clouds started building out, with chilly sea breeze
Spotting a rainbow on the horizon, and cargo ships
Spotting surfers - The temperature was around 15 degrees Celsius!
I was pleased to get a glimpse of the North Sea, imagining myself traveling back in time when the Dutch merchant and warships sailed-by enroute to Asia in the 1700's. It was a fitting sign-off for my visit to the Netherlands. It is a forward looking and modern society. I can't speak of them more highly.
My first trip to the open seas after a year in Europe
But the adventure was about to start. As I wanted to head back to Central at 10.15am, I discovered there seems to be a delay in the 5-min per trip trams.
After anxiously waiting for 30 minutes, I jumped up the first tram and head back to Central
From Central Station, I jogged back to the hostel, had a quick wash-up, and returned to Central Station by 11.30am. I have planned an epic road trip for the rest of the day.
My bus from The Hague to Amsterdam was supposed to depart at 11.45am.
From The Hague, I would head back to Amsterdam for a quick transit, before traveling to Bruges via Antwerp, Ghent, and Lille (France).
Which means, I would be in 3 different countries in a day!
At The Hague's Central Station, I received an sms telling me that the 11.45am Flixbus to Amsterdam is delayed, for 1.5 hours. My next bus from Amsterdam (Sloterdijk) was at 2.10pm. I decided to take the train to Amsterdam instead, buying a new ticket at 11.50 Euros. The train departed at 12.48pm, and by 1.35pm, I was in Amsterdam. It was the right decision to forego the Flixbus ticket (6 Euros).
Had some fast food for a change
Thankfully, the Flixbus from Amsterdam to Bruges was on time. The ride was pleasant, and I enjoyed the journey crossing into the Flemish region of Belgium.
After 2.5 hours, I reached in Antwerp, a famous city in Belgium
Antwerp was a trading port, and is currently the second largest city in Belgium, after Brussels (which is my last stop of this backpacking trip). The Portuguese established Antwerp as a trading post for spices from Asia in the 1500's. We had a 20 min transit, where passengers got up and down the bus. I wandered around the city center, but time was limited.
The trusted and comfortable Flixbus
It was quite a busy bus stop in Ghent, which is just beside the train station
 |
| Intercity train station |
Backpackers are always to coolest people around
It was around 7pm, when we departed Ghent to the French city of Lille. The journey took around 1.5 hours. This leg of the journey was most beautiful, with sunset on the horizon. I knew of Lille from football... They have a mid-sized team in the French League.
I took Level 1 French at the University of Glasgow, so I am always happy to use the language
Lille is a city located at the north of France, and borders Belgium. It is the 4th largest city in France.
Eurostar has a stop here, linking London, Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, all major cities
The city center was also quite quiet
I suppose everyone was already home for dinner.
Lille railway station
The bus departed Lille for Bruges at 8.30pm, and arrived in Bruges at around 9.45pm. I have to admit, I slept most of the day on the bus.
I had selected Bruges as the next city to explore, as compared to the rest, because the city has been the same since the 16th century. King Maximillan made the city extremely poor, and did not modernize anything. In fact, Bruges was not attacked during years of war in Europe, because it was deemed insignificant. This, was a blessing in disguise, as the Flemish buildings and architectures are well preserved and conserved.
To be continued...
Check out my day in Bruges at:
No comments:
Post a Comment