Algernon thought it would be nice to do part of Suus and Dunya's City trip to The Hague.
He also wanted to show you some other parts of the Hague that Suus and Dunya did not show us in their report.
His first stop was the 'Nieuwe Kerk', new church in english. Actually this church is not that new, but was built after the 'Grote kerk' (big church), which Algernon will show you as well. In the Golden Age (17th Century) The Hague had a period of economic growth. The Government also took it's seat in the city. Business was booming, more people came to live in the city and that also meant more people going to church. There were so many people attending masses that there was a need for another church. They started with the building of this church in 1649 and in 1656 the New church was finished. In this pigture you see the church in the back and in front are the fountains that are a nice playground for kids visiting the city centre.
In the sixties (of the 20th Century) religion was declining and less and less people attended the mass. The church stopped having a religious function and was renovated. Since then the Church has been used for events, like weddings, concerts and so on. The Church is now an official monument and is one of buildings in the top 100 of Dutch UNESCO monuments. It is a bit hard to see but the white dot in the lower left hand corner is Algernon posing in front of the church.
The Hague has quite a big group of Chinese and other Asian inhabitants. They are mostly in the part of the centre called China Town. Since the start of the Chinese new year this year (13 February 2010) there are two big gates at the entrances of China Town.
As we said before the Grote kerk (Big church) or St. Jacobskerk (saint Jacobs church) became to small for all the new inhabitants in growing The Hague, and the Nieuwe Kerk was built. Slave couldn't get the whole Grote Kerk in the picture, but here you can see Algernon in front of the tower of the Grote Kerk. See this link for a picture of the whole church. This church was only a wooden chapel in the 13th century, and was completed as we know it now in the 15th century.
A bird that used to be very common in the city of The Hague was the stork. The surroundings of the Hague were ideal for birds, even called a bird paradise. It is said that there were even tame storks that would walk over the market and ate out of the hands of merchants. The stork is depicted on the crest of the city. The stork has been away for quite a while, but nowadays storks have been sighted again.
Next stop takes us to where Suus and Dunya snacked on some flowers and had a look at the Queen's palace. It is the Palace of Noordeinde.
Here you can see Suus and Dunya posing in front of the Palace..
And Algernon posing in front of the same palace...
Here is Algernon with the statue of William the Silent, posing in the flowers.
And here a similar pigture with Suus and Dunya and the yummie flowers.
Algernon also said hello to the Queen's grandmother that is placed opposite the palace
The same statue that Suus and Dunya visited in their City trip!
Then Algernon heard from MonSouris (The Mouse from the library in amsterdam, also on twitter) that the Peace palace has a great library. He thought it would be nice to visit them. On his way to the Palace he saw this bike. According to a tag it belongs to the Night Mayor (nachburgemeestah) of the Hague Mr. Bom. We were allowed to take a pigture with it, and if we broke it the pic would be proof of that! Can you see him sitting at the handlebar?
Then Algernon reached the Peace palace (Vredespaleis). It turned out the palace is a beautiful but well guarded and secured building. There was no way even a small rat like algernon was to enter the palace unseen... Well, maybe he should have send them a message on twitter and made an appointment first...
On the way to the Peace palace Algernon also saw a big monument in the distance that he decided to explore. It turned out to be a monument that remembers the independance and founding of the dutch state after the victory over Napoleon.
Well we hope you enjoyed Algernon's trip in the Hague so far...
Read the whole city trip of Suus and Dunya here
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