Den Hagg or The Hague if you want to keep it English

Initially we were going to leave for Brussels first thing in the morning, but Angelique said that we should take the bikes out and meet her lunch at noon - OKAY!!! :) ~

Unfortunately (as per usual), it was pouring down rain... but the Dutch bikes could handle it. We put on our ponchos that we had purchased in Venice back in April... they were finally getting put to use. We figured the ponchos would be easier than trying to carry a massive golf umbrella around on a bicycle.. and it was.

We really didn't know where we were going even though we were drawn out which roads to take - oops. Oh well, we eventually found ourselves in the square of Parliament where Angelique met us, sans poncho as the rain had disappeared.

We went for a lunch and I accidentally ordered a raw roast beef sandwich with pesto and pine nuts. If you know me at all, I am a very picky eater and this was a problem for me. Oh well - I sucked it up and ate 3/4 of the sandwich before feeling "full". My mother would have been proud (if you're reading this, which I know you are, you BETTER be proud of me).

We then got our very own free guided tour of the city (via bicycle) from Angelique, whom then toured us all the way to the beach - wow. Just like in the movies, we sat at a restaurant along the shore and enjoyed some nice coffee.. mmm!

Before we knew it, it was getting close to 5pm so we raced back to the house to grab our packs. The kids and Albert had just returned from a little vacation in the Dutch islands. We said our goodbyes for 5 minutes and headed off to Brussels!!

Oh wait.... when we got to the train station, the train was cancelled - BAH! The woman told us to go all the way to Amsterdam (2 hrs out of the way) to catch a train there. We did what she said and guess what happened? We took the next train to Brussels which then ended up going through Den Hagg in the end. Them's the breaks though.... pal.

We arrived in style (you know, exhausted and annoyed) and found the hostel and slept.