Stanford Student Letters and Memoirs

-4-

It is a beautiful spot in every way and I don't know how it ever became a hostel.

Yesterday morning before setting out to see the Hague, we took a short bike ride down to the beach. Rode along the path through huge sand dunes 20 or 30 feet high. It was a gray overcast morning and the sea and the horizon were one continuous mass, broken only by three small cargo ships steaming off to somewhere. It was my only look at the Atlantic (technically the North Sea) for this trip I don't mind that too much if it is always so gray and dreary.

In the city we went first to the Binnenhof, which is sort of a palaceadministration building. In the center court surrounded by an old bldg. filled with offices is a small building containing several large halls, the largest of these is a lovely hall on whose walls hang the flags of the Hollandish provinces, the shields of oast ruling princes, etc. At one end is a lovely round stained glass window (again the shields in the center). The roof is beamed hardwood, nailed with wooden pegs (re-built in 1904 though the building dates from 1280). Here are held special meetings of the legislature and large state receptions for visiting royalty or heads of state. And here in September each year the Queen marches in to officially open Parliament for the year.

After lunch we went to a small museum (the Mauritschuis) which contains several Rembrandts including the late self-portrait and "The Anatomy Lesson", Franshals, and a couple of good Vermeers. Then to find directions to the Peace Palce [Palace], built in 1918 by the US. We stopped in at the US information Service building which we happened to ride past. But here we found a small library and so sat down for a couple of hours to catch up on the news and relax. We bought the week's Time magazine in Amsterdam but a good reading of one day's New York Times aided a lot. After this interlude we arrived at the Peace Palace at 4:15 to find that the building closed at 4, so we had a tourist stylelook at the outside. Then the half hour ride back to the hostel and another relaxing evening. These easy evenings seem to be the best formula for the day's walking or biking and a 10 PM light's out in the hostels prevents concerts etc. anyway. So we just stay in after dinner and take it easy.

This morning, up as usual, and away about 9 to bike to Rotterdam, 30 kilo. It was against the wind all the way, some up and down, and we are getting stronger by now and did the distance in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Went first off to the American Express and I found 6 letters waiting for me!

After a very short ride through Rotterdam to bought train tickets to Koln and got here about 6:30 this evening. On the way (Utrecht, Arnhem, Emmerick Oberhausen, and Deuseldorf) we came through the Ruhr, of course and saw endless smoke stacks and heavy factories. It is really industry saturated.

This does it for this installment. More to come real soon. Isn't it a pity we sold George bicycle so long ago. He probably would have more fun with it now.