Castle de Haar

17 June 2017,

It was very easy now to go to Castle de Haar by public transport. From Den Haag, we took direct train to Vleuten. Next to Vleuten train station, there was a bus terminal where we can take bus no. 111 to Castle de Haar. The bus stopped in front of the castle.

Since we got off the bus, the castle was already impressed us. The wall, the moat and the bridge were beautiful. We went to the ticket office to get the tickets. Since we had Museumkaart, we can get inside for free. If not, we should buy the tickets and they had a separate ticket for garden only or with the castle.

Muiderslot

11 June 2017,

Muiderslot is one of the most beautiful castles in Netherlands. Located in Muiden, only 50 minutes drive from Den Haag. Since parking lot near the castle was limited, we parked our car on the street, not far from the castle.

This medieval castle was built by Count Floris around 1285. He had many enemies, and one of them was Willem van Mechelen from Utrecht. His enemies kidnapped him and held prisoner in his own castle. Later, they took him away from castle and killed him. After his death, the castle was taken over by the Willem van Mechelen.

Christmas Market in Netherlands

Christmas Market in  Netherlands  


Maastricht, 31 December 2016

 With theme Magical Maastricht, Christmas Market in Maastricht was one of the Christmas Markets that open until end of December.

Besides all the stalls, they had some areas for children. The main attraction was the Ferris Wheel, which we can get a nice city view from top. They also had ice skate ring complete with the skate rental.
 

Den Bosch

04 december 2016

Though it was 5^o C but because it was a sunny day, we decided to go outside Den Haag. There are some towns that not far from Den Haag that we want to visit, such as Breda, Dordrecht and Den Bosch. But because we plan to visit Dordrecht when it has Christmas Market (which is 2 more weeks) and Breda is smaller than Den Bosch (maybe we can combine Breda with another town), so we decided to visit Den Bosch.

The Holland Open Air Museum (Nederlands Openlucht Museum) Arnhem

13 August 2016, The Holland Open Air Museum (Nederlands Openlucht Museum) Arnhem
We took train from Den Haag Central Station to Arnhem Central Station. From there we continued by Breng (name of the bus in Arnhem) no 3 direction Burger’s Zoo and we stopped at Burger’s Zoo bus stop. From there, we walked to the museum.

Ticket to enter this museum was EUR 15 for adults and EUR 11 for child 4-12 years old. As we have Museumkaart, we got free entry. First, we entered the entrance which also a museum shop. It’s a small shop that sells some things especially for children. Also we can buy some snacks and drinks here. The Museum opens from 10.00 am to 17.00 pm.

Nijmegen

13 August 2016, Nijmegen

We arrived at Nijmegen train station, it took only 15 minutes from Arnhem central train station. Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands. Like the other cities in Holland, the old town was close from the train station. We just followed the clear sign to centruum. The first place we see was the Grote Markt. In this square, we saw the Waaggebouw (weighing house), the beautiful old renaissance building from 1600 and now it serves as a restaurant, the bronze statue of Mariken Nieumeghen, a chief character from 15^th century and the entrance to the St. Stevenskerk, a Romanesque Gothic church. The church was already closed when we arrived, so we just can admire its beautiful façade.

Hoorn, Netherlands

25 June 2016, Hoorn

Hoorn, a city in  the North Netherlands. It was one of the centers of VOC, the Dutch Indies Company which had Batavia (Jakarta) as one of its important trading posts. It was easy to reach Hoorn since it has its train station. From Den Haag to Hoorn took about 1 hour 30 minutes, including transfer in Amsterdam Sloterdijk.