Friday, August 26
Here we are in Scheveningen. Den Haag Scheveningen. Breakfast arrived in our room: orange juice, coffee/evap milk, 2 whole tomatoes, 2 whole apples, a basket of bread & rolls & Holland Rusk enough for 12 – and butter or jam. We drove around, as this is the largest summer resort in Europe. It is old fashioned but very commercial. There is a large pier and large tired-looking hotels – not appealing to us. We drove North by Amsterdam, stopping at a couple of little towns. The one we enjoyed most was Alkmaar. We spent most of the day here. It is immaculate and the people very attractive. It seemed they had more than their share of 6 foot-tall, beautiful blondes. The babies are adorable – white blonds – everyone on bikes. Mothers have one on front and one on back in straw baskets. It was crowded as Friday is the cheese market, but there are many lovely specialty shops and many very well dressed women around. Bikes have the right of way and there are more bikes than cars. We loved it – had a delicious lunch and sat next to a young man from Italy. I had a vegetable omelet – baked beans, peas, mushrooms in the omelet and surrounded by cucumbers and beets pickled. We drove on to Den Helder where we have found a great hotel “The Beatrix” right across from the ocean. Gorgeous beach 0 North Sea, but you have to climb the dyke to see it, as the land is below sea level. The drivers are fast – pass us on the A Roads going 100 MPH. Cars seem to be an indulgence as you don’t see old cars broken down or rusty. They are new, beautiful – many very expensive BMW’s and Mercedes are a dime a dozen.
We had dinner on the 3rd floor of the Beatrix Hotel. It was the best meal so far – a poached salmon I shall never forget, mussel, carrots, broccoli, an artichoke fritter and tiny potatoes with very mild chives. All this while we watched the sun set in the North Sea. The Sea was visible from every window. It was magnificent! It is a beautiful evening.
Saturday, August 27
Eight o’clock breakfast on 2nd floor dining room overlooking fog bank. Our ferry leaves at 9:35. We arrived at 9:15 and were 3rd in line – weather is terrible – rainy & foggy & cold. Trip over is about 20 min and the little town of Den Burg was busy. There are plenty of shops to keep us busy – bought boots for Sue. The people are fascinating, but would not look out of place in Camp Hill Shopping Center. The world is getting smaller. We both had haircuts in a busy little unisex salon run by 5 tall blondes – I kept mixing them up. We drove to de Cocks Dorp and found a small hotel and walked to the dyke. The dishes are fascinating and at low tide the families go to the beach with the children to play in the sand. Tomorrow we hope to bike the dykes if the weather improves. Everyone is on a bike and bike paths follow the roads everywhere. We went to De Koog, but it was terribly honky tonk. Population here is 14,000; swelling to 45,000 in the summer. It is very flat and reminds us of Prince Edward Island, but prettier.
[Small Pension called Rebeccas in De Waal, I would look for on a future visit.]
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