A Tale of Two Cities

This blog is not quite the Tale of Two Cities that Charles Dickens wrote, or an adaptation of the movie based on the book that I saw when at school so many years ago.    

This is more the tale of two grimy city centres, a more Oliver Twist tale really.     Certainly both city centres had evidence of poverty and crime.

However, once out of the city centres there was evidence of wealth and grandeur.    And beautiful buildings.

The first city, Arnhem, set in a magnificent wooded countryside, was a bit of a shock.   There was quite a rough crowd for sure.   However, it was also a university town and there were plenty of students around as well.  

I found a nice quite side street, with a view of the church spire in the distance.

The huge church which is attached to the spire, with Walter standing in front of it.

The last remaining part of a very old and ornate building   The rest of the old buildings in this block would have been bombed during World War 2.   Now there is a very smart new building there.

The Nederrijn River runs through the city, not far from here, with the famous John Frostburg (John Frost Bridge) crossing it.   The bridge was named after the English Lieutenant Colonel John Dutton Frost who led the allied forces in the Battle of Arnhem.  The forces reached the bridge but could not capture it completely from the Germans.    The bridge has been the setting for many films, the best known is 'A Bridge Too Far'.

                                           

A photograph of Mia and me!   Mia is a student at the university in Arnhem, and works part time at HEMA.    

I have since given the black trousers to the charity shop.   I am sure there is a shorter person who would fit them perfectly!

Mia's student room, which is quite roomy, with a bed on one side, couch, cupboards and keyboard in the centre, and the small table and chairs by the window.     On the wall behind me is a bench, hand basin and cupboards.     The toilet is opposite the room and the bathroom and laundry beside it.   She shares the toilet and bathroom with one or two other students.    The kitchen is on the ground floor and that is shared with about nine students.    A person comes in to clean all the shared spaces.   All pretty good for a student.

The view from her window is lovely as she looks over the buildings towards the park and hills.  

Plus her street is filled with beautiful old patrician houses, some of which have been converted into flats or student accommodation.    The university, shopping centre and railway station are  close by.

It was lovely to see where Mia lives and to spend time with her.    I forgot to add that we ate delicious Indian food at the local restaurant.    

Now onto the next city, namely Den Haag, Walter's home town, where he lived until he was 9 years old.  Den Haag is also a beautiful old city.

However, the city centre is scruffy, although this could be due to the large amount of building work taking place.

The Binnenhof is having extensive renovations and is completely closed off.   We read the large billboards which outlined the renovations and restoration work as well as modernising the inside of the buildings.   It must be costing a lot of money and no doubt will take a few years.  At the moment it closes off a large part of central Den Haag.

The Binnenhof houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of General Affairs and the office of the Prime Minister.   It is a large complex of buildings and covers a large section of the centre of Den Haag.    A very important building.

The photo below shows the view along the canal, which is picturesque.   But go back one street to where the Central Railway Station is and the scene is different.   A magnificent railway station, but in front there is a wide dismal street, with trams.   Now where does one cross without getting run over by a tram or a car or a bike.  We could not work this out 

I clung to Walter.    Not to protect him but I thought he had a better chance to be noticed with his walker.

So ever onwards we walked, along the streets to the shopping area, mostly trying to work out which was the footpath, which was the bike path, and which was the road.   We were  very alert.

The Passage, which is a beautiful old shopping area, and with a lovely blossom display in the centre.

The building below was once a prison and filled with grisly reminders of that time.    We visited it in January 1987 when the temperature was about minus 10.   No heating of course!    It was built in 1280 and was the gate to the outer courtyard of the castle which is now the Binnenhof.   

 A lovely street with shops and restaurants.    Unfortunately we did not have time to venture over there.

The small lake is being filled in with sand behind  a support wall so that restoration work can be done on the walls of the Binnenhof.    Once the restoration work has been finished the sand and wall will be removed.    There are plans to reinstate the canals that used to surround the Binnenhof.

Another museum, the Mauritshuis, I think!   

The two figures in front of the Societeit De Witte.  The woman,

and the man.    I found them fascinating.   However I am not likely to go inside the building, as it is a private club which has a prominent position in the society of the Hague.  Looks a bit posh. It was founded in 1782.

A lovely old church, no name, so probably not a church now.

Finally I saw some Amsterdammertje's lining a side street.   Not quite as knobbly as the ones in Amsterdam, plus no crosses on them, but still the same.   Interesting posts.   I will leave you to research them yourself. 

And we had no problems sorting out the road and the footpath on this street.