Life: Idiotropic

After a wonderful afternoon wandering around Amsterdam, we decided to go to Scheveningan, a well-known beach just west of The Hague. The large tulip gardens had closed for the season, but I directed Kirk along the "scenic route" through the flower fields hoping to catch a glimpse of something. Unfortunately all the daffodils and tulips were gone leaving most of the fields very bare, but we did see a few large patches of large purple flowering balls... not sure what they were, but they were very pretty. After seeing really nothing, we hopped back on the autobahn to get to the beach.

Parking there was insane. Really, I don't know if I've ever had to sit in traffic that long at any beach on the West coast. It moved slow, painfully slow, and the parking lots were full. I think we'd pretty much decided to go back to the farmhouse, but we were stuck in the parking lot, unable to go anywhere with cars in front of us waiting for spots and no room to go around. Then, two spots opened and we actually got parking! (This is when a shower of confetti would burst forth from the page, for at this place, getting parking is like winning the lottery.)

A long sidewalk ran along the road paralleling the coastline. The beach was below, so from the sidewalk, you could see out, over the rooftops of cafes and ice cream shops, to the waves. A childrens playground of large inflatable toys was closeby. One toy had a big cowboy standing tall on it's bouncy platform. Silly. Cowboys are popular here. It really didn't look like anything special to me. Meaning, it didn't look like anything that I wouldn't see in the states. Restaurants, gift shops, kids play spaces. It was all modern and beachy. The sand was sand. Nothing special... probably very similar to the Atlantic sand on the East coast of the US. The shells we collected were small versions of the conches we found in Florida. Still, it was nice to walk barefoot in that sand and collect those tiny shells.



The kids teased the waves running wildly away laughing at the slightest movement towards them. Elise enjoyed splashing in the puddles and leaning over to see her reflection. Arianna kept burying her feet in the sand. Luci built a sand castle - sort of. Tiara played. She just enjoyed being there. We all collected some shells. I think most of the beach went home in her hair. Dad and Angie took a walk to explore and the rest of us just enjoyed relaxing for a bit.
There was one interesting landmark there - one that Dand and Angie did walk to. It was a large narrow pier that went out over the water and ended in a large circle containing a restaurant. It wasn't horribly exciting, but it was something "out-of-the-ordinary."
Soon we were all hungry. We debated whether to stay and eat or to try to find a grocery store open on a Sunday. After changing the wet sandy kids in the van, we decided to stay and ate at Peverelli's. The food was pricey and fair. I think Kirk was the smartest in choosing the pannekoeken - a thicker crepe topped with ham and cheese. His meal was reasonable and very tasty. Tiara and I got the fondue and it was very average. In fact, it was horrendously overpriced and not nearly as good as what I could get at home. Next time I'll get the pannekoeken.

Just as we were finishing up, it began to rain, so we went back to our farm house to relax and watch a little Dutch television. I saw the Supernanny with Dutch subtitles and CSI came on too.