10/07/2008

Pictures from Utrecht (2)

Today I show you nearly all the pictures that I took while being on a trip in The Hague. This excursion was suggested by the lecturer of the Dutch Present-Day Society course, drs. Emmeline Besamusca. We met in the Utrecht Centraal station hall, and we took the train to The Hague, passing by Gouda. We arrived round 10 am and we then walked to the city's most famous square, simply called "Plein". There you can see a statue of the "Vader des vaderlands", Willem van Oranje.


There was a flee market on that day.

A view of the street where the Mauritshuis and one of the Parliament (or 'Staten-Generaal') entrances are located.

On the right you can a banner with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, aka "the Mona Lisa of the North" or "the Dutch Mona Lisa").

The Ministry of Silly Walks. … Erm, no, of Justice.

The group is slowly entering the Parliament; we had to pass a security gate.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the building, though. So here's the façade.



Yeah, even Burger King outlets are located in beautiful historic buildings…


Heading for the Binnenhof.


Of course, if you aren't yet in the Binnenhof, you're still in the Buitenhof…

Thee Ridderzaal (i.e. Knight's Hall), where the queen holds her annual speech at Prinsjesdag.



Walking past the Minister-president's office.

The Mauritshuis.



The hofvijver.






A streetcar on the Lange vijverberg.


One of the statues that you can find on the Lange vijverberg: Jantje from the song In Den Haag daar woont een graaf.

Drs. Besamusca tells us about the boy and even sings the song! (From Wikipedia:)
In Den Haag daar woont een graaf,
en zijn zoon heet Jantje.
Als je vraagt waar woont je pa,
dan wijst hij met zijn handje,
Met zijn vingertje, met zijn duim,
Op zijn hoed draagt hij een pluim,
Aan zijn arm een mandje,
Dag mijn lieve Jantje.

Statue of the (famous) Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, victim of one of the only political murders in the Netherlands.



Statue of Willem II van Oranje on the Buitenhof.



I'll show you the rest of the pictures tomorrow.

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