The Hague Things to Do Tips by nighthawk

Palace Noordeinde Royal The Hague Review

This is the palace that Queen Beatrix uses for her work as head of the state. Members of foreign governments visit here.
Originally designed by Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post.
Across the road once stood a beautiful neo-gothic building but that has been torn down.

Directions: Coming from the city center, walk in the direction of Scheveningen, signs can be found along the road.

Peace palace Peace Palace Review

Andrew Carnegie, who became rich in the steel industry came with the concept of building a peace palace.
An international competition was held for the best design of the building which was won by the French architect Louis M. Cordonnier.
In 1913 the building was festivily opened in the presence of the Dutch royal family.
It now houses the seat of international law, the international court of justice and the permanent court of Arbitration, the latter being the oldest institution for dispute settlement.

Website: http://www.vredespaleis.nl/showpage.asp?pag_id=1

View on the Binnenhof Governmental The Hague Review

It is nice to go and visit the Binnenhof, the place where our national government is seated.
Too bad I missed the grand tour, haven t been there in 20 years and so I still do not know what renovations have been done.

This a view on the binnenhof through the entrance gate of the prisoners gate.

View on palace Noordeinde Royal The Hague Review

This is a view somewhat further away from the palace.
You can see the statue of William III standing in front of it.
I think William once lived here but I forgot the specifics :-)

VT members in front of it as well

Panaroma Mesdag Panorama Mesdag Review

Am ever so glad Sandra (mique) showed us this!!!
The buidling is somewhat discretely tucked away in the street but we did find it.
The huge cylindrical painting can be seen from a round platform and it is a bit of a surreal feel to stand here and look around.
Hendrik Willem Mesdag, born in Groningen (all that s good comes from Groningen hehe) on February 23rd 1831 and died in The Hague July 7th 1915.
Married Sina van Houten (Sientje), also born in Groningen, on April 23rd 1856.
When they inherated an huge amount of money after the death of Mesdag his father Sina persuaded her husband to follow his dream and become a painter.
They lived in Bruge for a while before they moved to The Hague because Mesdag more and more was fascinated by the sea.
After the death of their only son Klaas in 1877, Sientje too began to paint.
A group of Belgian entrepeneurs wanted Mesdag to paint a giant painting with a lenght of 120 metres and 14 metres of height. Therefor a special pavilion was built, with a small round platform in the middle for the public to stand on.
In only four months the painting was finished by Mesdag, his wife Sientje, Th?ophile de Bock (1851-1904) and the young George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923). Bernardus Johannes Blommers (1845-1914) also helped some.
In 1886, when exploitation didn t bring in enough money to make it profitable, Mesdag bought the building and added rooms to it where he and his wife exposed their own paintings.

Directions: Panorama Mesdag, Zeestraat 65, Den Haag, tel 070 - 364 45 44

Website: http://www.holland.com/denhaag/gb/index.html?page=http://www.holland.com/denhaag/gb/cityguide/highlights/mesdag.html

A window of the 'CandyBox', in... Scenic The Hague Review

<center><FONT FACE='TEKTON'SIZE='4'COLOR='#8B008B'><div style='background color=#E6E6FA'>A window of the 'CandyBox', in it you see another building reflected, called 'The golden head'.