Early fog, staying cloudy all day with a late shower, 18-21deg, 26km, av. 12.3km/hr, tot. 1733km.
The motel brekky was excellent, cooked & cold, everything you'd want and more . They even had little boxes of chocolate granules or shavings (locally known as mouse shit) in four varieties/colours. The locals put it on their toast; decadence!
Not only was there a cycle path right outside our motel door but it was number 17, the one we needed to start our ride to The Hague. We could say we planned it that way but we didn't.
Our weather app told us 'early fog clearing to a sunny day'. It lied, 'early fog getting colder as the day progressed with rain in the afternoon' it should have read. We ended up digging out our rain jackets on the way to The Hague to keep the cool headwind out of our bones. However as it was only a 26km day it didn't matter. Hard to believe we were cooking a couple of days ago, the weather reminds me of Melbourne.
The first stop was at Delf, a Dutch picture postcard old town at the half way mark. Delf is famous for its Delfware Pottery, (blue stuff) 11-13th century town square and houses, its association with the Dutch Royals and the painter Johannas Vermeer. It is also famous for an explosion in the gunpowder store on 12 Oct 1654 which ignited 30 tonnes of the stuff and wiped out half the town . We spent a pleasant hour or so wandering around the square and narrow back streets. On a bright day it would be a photographer's paradise.
We pulled into The Hague about 12:30pm and had our takeaway bread-roll lunch in the city square. Upon checking Google maps for the hotel we discovered we were sitting in its shadow so to speak. The hotel, a Mercure four star, cost us less than the 'oven' room we were in the night before last at Rotterdam. And the Mercure is right in the centre of The Hague.
An interesting wander around The Hague in the afternoon was cut short in the late afternoon by wind and rain. The city is a mix of old and new. The old dating back to 1230, while the new seems to be happening at a pace with lots of building sites scattered around. It is the seat of the Dutch Govt, Parliament and Supreme Court but is not the capital. It's written in the constitution that Amsterdam is the capital. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court are both located here, giving it an important role in world affairs.
Dinner was Chinese next door to the hotel and it was chockablock full of Asian people. That is always a good sign for a great feed, which turned out spot on as it was delish.
Fine tomorrow, fingers crossed!