Hotel Des Indes, Den Haag
Feb 28 – To The Hague
I have retrieved notes from Feb tastings and will input them soon, for now I will reporting to the blog from the road. I think it is important to start documenting my experiences during different phases of trip development. I hope it is helpful.
Yesterday I left Beaune in a major storm to drive North to Holland. We are hosting some travellers who want to explore Holland by Bike in late June 2010.
Holland is a cyclist’s dream, the bike is Queen. This is the third time I’ve come North for this program; March 2009 for initial research, then in October 2009 for specific bike routes and hotel visits. I am here now to finish the cycling routes and to go through the trip in detail with my co-guide. My co-guide was a Den Haag resident for well over a decade, now residing near Geneva, but in France. We worked together at a the large cycling and walking specialist Butterfield and Robinson 20 yrs ago, our families have been close ever since. I consider her husband a very close friend, and our kids get along like cousins. Her input on this program will be a key to making it a true insider’s program. She arrives in two days, so, until then, I will be able to finish some of the cycling routes and do some exploring on my own.
Getting here:
The storm intensified as I drove North, peaking in Luxembourg. I had stopped to grab a sandwich and my vehicle nearly got hit by a flying 150litre garbage can, the gusts were impressive. Belgium was grey, as almost always it seems, the storm eased as I arrived to the Hampshire Hotel, and then intensified around 5 pm, after my arrival. As I left the hotel an American tourist burst in and blurted to me “and I gave up a trip to Australia for this !!” while storming to the elevator. I understood exactly what he was talking about when I started to walk to the tram stop. Big cold wind and driving rain. Really nasty weather. I was almost chilled to the bone waiting to take a tram 3 stops to the centre of the city.
I walked the city centre for about an hour before getting too cold and heading back to hotel on foot. I remembered how I really do enjoy big cities. It took me back to the cold Toronto winters of my youth. Just before I got back to the hotel I spied the Savana Café, a quaint neighbourhood bistro. After talking with reception briefly I cleaned up and headed back to the bistro for a nice daily menu. The Leak soup was really fresh, creamy and great. The main was Sole in a cream sauce with braised Cauliflower and home fries-with home-made mayonnaise. It was good, but slightly undercooked and thus difficult for me to bone. It also came with it’s guts for me to separate – I wasn’t hungry enough to sample them tonight. Once I got some of the flesh it didn’t bother me that it was undercooked, I could tell it was a fresh fish, with great flavour. The home fries were great !
I returned to the hotel, fell asleep during the 50 km ski race, only to wake at midnight to see the Hockey and Olympic highlights, followed by the 2010 Winter Olympic Games Closing ceremonies. Although I’ve become more of an Internationalist, and less Nationalistic, I doubt you can find a more proud Canadian in the Hague this morning.
March 1, 2010
This is a great hotel for what I am doing. Routework is a part of the trip’s bottom line, for us to be price competitive, I need to keep pre-trip costs as reasonable as possible. It was a great deal price-wise, and this morning’s breakfast was just fine. It is well located, classic, clean and well-appointed. I would not, however, use this as a trip property, as it lacks the character side of the equation. This morning I am tracing the bike route for 1st layover day in The Hague. I am happy to say the weather has calmed down. Only 30 km/hr winds… Looks like tailwind there and headwind back. Thanks for reading.
