It back but due to a few files being corrupted not in it original glory but we will try to find a clean copy from our backups but this is low priority at the moment. If we can we will restore this story in full but we do promise to replace the corrupted photographs with something just as good from our vast collection.
For those of you expecting to hear music as you download this piece I'm afraid to say we have bowed to record company executives and are attempting an old fashioned hype technique most famously used to promote records by The Jam and Slade in attempt to take the Christmas No. 1 spot.
The track has been exclusively released to a few top radio stations who will play it so that record shops receive advanced orders so that when the single is eventually released it is propelled artificially to the top of the charts. We should add that the DJ's have not received a free turkey as has been alleged in some of the more disreputable sections of the music press. I just mad that up by the way in case you wondered.
We begin our tour just to the East of Centraal Station. A rather confusing photograph but it does illustrate the new development that has taken place in this area in recent years. To the bottom is the recently opened road tunnel which routes traffic under the main station area. The concrete viaduct carries trams to the raised tram and bus interchange and the main building is the miinnterchange and the main building is the miinstry of
"VROM"which I'm afraid to say I cannot expand but I can remember that
one of the letters is milleu or environment.
An interesting new concept. Following on from the Park and Ride idea the city fathers have developed the Kiss and Ride concept. Presumably because their focus groups have determined that there is not enough love in the world. Drivers are advised to engage the handbrake and put the gear in neutral before attempting this manoever. Please also consider other road users and pedestrians and bear in mind that wheel clampers are in operation.
Before you travel from all over the world to try it out I ought to point out that it is a place for car drivers to drop off their passengers mainly I suppose for the new fast train to the airport.
An attempt to reproduce the photograph on the wall in Mcdonalds on the Korte Poten (free Big graph on the wall in Mcdonalds on the Korte Poten (free Big Mac claimed). The building site is another government ministry by the way.
I had to reduce the size to make sure it fitted to a standard screen which has meant that the photograph has lost some of its impact. Save the page and read 013_13.jpg in Paintshop or similar to get the full effect. I also compress the images by 70% so some quality may also be lost there.
The Centraal Station forecourt. Appropriately the Kiss and Ride area is located the other side of the green flower kiosk.
New office development around Laan van Oost Indie station and the A12 Utrechtsebaan. I used to travel this way to work in Leiden and the commuters reminded by of those exitting Cannon Street station walking up to their jobs at Bank. I have to say they didn't look nearly as stressed as their British counterparts.
The Utrechsebaan which takes traffic from Utrecht and the main junction with the A4 Rotterdam to Amsterdam motorway into the centre of the city.
The National Nederlanden (insurance) building which spans the motorway. I guess the idea is that office workers can look out of the window, check the traffic and abseil down into their cars so they can get away quickly.
Another new building. When completed locals commented on it's phalic resemblance. I say it was a warning to Haagenaars about the consequences of not practicing safe sex.
A horse chestnut lined canal near the station offering some tranquility after the stress of the morning commute.
We bypass some of the narrow streets of Den Haag because they have been covered in The Road to Leiden (2) and head straight to the Nordeinde. The lower portion contains upmarket boutiques juxtaposed with small art galleries. This part has benefitted from the addition of several new restaurants and is competing on equal terms with the parallel Denerweg.
Moving indoors we come to The Passage a covered shopping area containing mainly small specialty shops. I just managed to sneak into the building to take the photograph and escaped before being asked to leave.
An underground fiestenstaling (bike park). I must admit when I saw this I had visions of cyclists being chased around by a bromfietser (moped rider) like they used to on The Sweeney or Starsky and Hutch. Don't try it by the way as there are police cameras.
De Grote Kerk showing that it's almost time for lunch.
The terras area popular with the "Van der Luvvies". I should explain that the word terrass should correctly translated as pavement cafe explain that the word terrass should correctly translated as pavement cafe a la Paris rather than grasssy concrete bank where you used to stand and watch your team loose and half the time get soaking wet in the process - still at least you could afford to go every week.
In the Summer these cafes where packed with affluent twentysomethings discussing who's in and who's out. There was one thing I couldn't work out. How did they stop their sunglasses from sliding down when they were angled towards the Sun in conjunction with their mobile phone antenna in tribute to the Sun God. One theory was that they had a flesh coloured screw on each side of their head. Any student of mechanics or civil engineering will understand that there is a "moment" created by the eye pat of the glasses. For steady state conditions this must be counteracted by an equal and opposite moment. The only way I could have envisaged this was by attaching some fishing line to the top of the glasses and tying the other end to the belt. I saw someone like that one the tube in London by the way. Somehow I reached the next stop without causing an incident.
Please accept my apologies for the larger than usual picture if you are viewing this on a standard screen but I thought you'd like to see the range of beverages on offer. I chose a Ciney from The Ardennes as I'd been there on holiday.
The Javastraat home of some exellent resteraunts. Fortunately the owner left this example of the classic British sports car on the corner (a Brit would never park like that) to enhance the shot. Why where they called sports cars by the way - I would'nt dream of taking one of these to football (our national sport).Clipped off from the original due to file corruption.
The Lange Voorhout home of many foreign embasies. Here we see some besuited diplomats out for a walk in the woods no doubt chewing over the issues of the day.
An interesting concept that should be copied. The promoters of the event pay for the concertgoers to get to the theatre by public transport (not really as there's no such thing as a free lunch). This should is particularly applicable in London as there are traffic and parking problems round most of the sports grounds and music venues. I once traveled to Spurs by train when the newly privatised railway company featured Tottenham and Arsenal players in its brochure in an attempt to attract more travelers onto off peak trains. After the game which cost GBP 24 (EUR 34) in 1995 to watch I had to queue outside White Hart Lane station for twenty minutes in sub-zero temperatures and when a train did arrive it consisted of only three coaches. Quick attempt to restore original photo
The Binnenhof itself.
The world famous Mauritshuis museum housing many famous works by The Hague Schools of Artists among others.
More terrassen. These establishments are favoured by the elite type of men known as the Haagse Hoogclasse.Dressed in American lawyers suits with immaculate though sometimes died and/or thinning hair. They finish work and meet their equally well turned out partners to relax and unwind in the evening Sun. I should add that this sort of thing is nowhere near as bad as London - I guess its more conspicuous as they sit and drink outside. People watching is acceptable by the way and if you adapt continental drinking speeds a very cheap night out.
Het Plein (The Square) looking towards the Tweede Kamer where you can see the new entrance alongside the original contruction.