Den Haag

While Amsterdam is the official capital of the Netherlands, Den Haag (The Hague) is the seat of government.  It is here where the Dutch Parliament is located.  It is also where the United Nations has a large presence, including the International Court of Justice.  Den Haag is an easy day trip from Amsterdam -- it's less than an hour by train and it seems like every 10 or 15 minutes a train is leaving Central Station that stops there.

Dutch Parliament Complex

After we visited the Anne Frank House, we left late morning for our visit.  The region between Amsterdam and Den Haag is the major bulb growing area and we passed many fields in bloom along the way.  Our agenda included visiting the Dutch Parliament, the International Court of Justice, and the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery where Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring resides.  What we envisioned was going to be at least a half-day visit turned in to something much less.  The Mauritshuis closed on April 2 for renovations, but we didn't find that out until we showed up at the front door looking to get in.  Fortunately for us, they moved the Vermeer to another gallery down the street -- The Prince William V Gallery.

The Prince William V Gallery is only one room (sweet!!), so it made for a very quick visit.  We took a tram to see the International Court of Justice knowing in advance that they have temporarily stopped giving tours so we wouldn't be able to actually go inside.  We did walk the grounds of the Parliament complex, but no tour there either.  We had also planned on going to the Escher museum, but once we found out it was reproductions and not originals, it wasn't as much of a priority.  All in all, we were done with what we wanted in about 2 hours.  While there is certainly more to do and see in Den Haag than what we chose to do, there was more for us waiting in Amsterdam so we took advantage of our extra time there.