Sound: "Mr. Jones And Me" by the Counting Crows
Day 5: October 18, 2010- Den Haag-Voorburg
Dutch phrase of the day: "Waar is Prinses Marijke Straat?"
Monday dawned bright and sunny. Even more than the lovely weather, I was excited because today was the day I was going to be super creepy. See, back in the 1970s, my grandfather took a sabbatical to Leiden University, which meant my grandparents, dad, and aunts and uncles lived in Holland for a year. Specifically, they lived in Voorburg, a suburb of Den Haag. My grandmother had given me the address of the house they lived in and I wanted to go see it, take some pictures, and possibly creep on the people who currently live there by knocking on the door and asking if I could look inside.
However, the deities were not going to support my planned creepiness.
The first sign that our trip was cursed was the fact that no one really knew how to get to Voorburg. The tram drivers didn't know, the tourist information people didn't know, even the map wasn't super clear. After being told to take the #1 and #10 trams, then told to take the #6 underground tram, we were finally told that the #26 bus would take us to Voorburg Station. So we took it.
Then the second issue appeared: my family's house is not exactly near the Voorburg Station. It's not super far (I think), but it is quite a walk. So, we started walking. We knew that Princes Marijke Street ran parallel to Prins Bernhardlaan, so that's where we headed. After a while, we found it. And walked. And walked. And walked.
We turned down sidestreets and turned up others, but no Princes Marijke Street. We asked some people out in the front yards; no one knew where Princes Marijke Street was. Maybe it was on the other side of Prins Bernhardlaan? Nope. Finally, we had to turn back; the weather was turning ugly and we were not any closer to finding the house. I was very sad, because seeing where my family lived had been a major goal for this trip. But I comforted myself with the knowledge that at least I had seen Voorburg, which is really a lovely little town. It has lots of nice statues and a windmill with cows.
When we got back to Den Haag, I was hungry. So, on the recommendation of my father, I bought a herring broodje (bread, butter, raw herring, and raw onions. It was... strange.
Zero Food Points for Dad. Sorry, Dad.
Actually, Half a Food Point for Dad because I love him and I really would like him to bring me Kraft Mac n' Cheese when he comes to visit.
Next time: AMSTERDAM!
Peace out, cubscouts.
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