May 2025

Where? The Mauritshuis Museum in the Hague. I used to never be a big fan of Dutch paintings, thus, we didn’t even bother to go to the Rijksmuseum while in Amsterdam on several different occasions.

But our travel mate, Yuna, wanted to meet the Girl with a Pearl Earring face to face, thus, we went to the Mauritshuis. This is a rather intimate museum where we could see the art works at our own leisurely pace.

There was a huge public underground parking lot smack in the middle of downtown, and it was not too expensive. You just have to remember the staircase number that was written clearly above the exit door.

There was another art museum I wanted to check out in Hague. To get there, you walk northeast from Mauritshuis, passing through a tree lined walkway.

We walked back to the center where the Dutch government complex known as Binnenhof sits by a big pond. Written as Den Haag in Dutch, Hague is the third biggest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Interestingly, Amsterdam is the capital and the royal court is there, but the prime minister and the government are in Hague. Why? A long story.

An extensive renovation work was going on in the Binnenhof complex, but artists were minding their own business not bothered by the hustle bustle.

Between the pond and the old city hall, about 1 km southwest, there were all sorts of shopping streets..

We could have walked around some more because there was a lot more to cover. The Hague may not have a million population, but it is a big, attractive city. We didn’t get to the International Court of Justice, which probably is what the Hague is known as for most people outside of the Netherlands. But our legs said enough for the day.

May 2025

Our Dutch friends had said there was much more to see in the Netherlands than Amsterdam, but most tourists just go to Amsterdam. After spending 10 days or so in “the other Netherlands,” I now totally agree with that statement.

A case in point: Breda. From our little town of Riel, you have Tilburg to the east and Breda (population: 186,000) to the west. Tilburg is a bit closer and a bit more populous. Breda is prettier. In fact, I would not mind parking myself in a town like Breda and chill out for a while.

What is so attractive about Breda? Let me show you where we had lunch one day.

So that’s how I felt about the old town core of Breda.

We have noticed all kinds of Korean food served in various towns in the Netherlands. However, the K-Food collection we saw in Breda was rather surprisingly varied and trendy. Not sure what to make of it, but hope they do well.

I appreciated the humor displayed in Breda. It added a more relaxed attitude to the laid back vibe of the town.

Of course there are beautiful churches, parks, plenty of nice restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping streets, arts venues etc.

Breda invites you to come and slowly stroll around, occasionally stopping to windowshop or sitting down for a tasty bite or a drink. If I were you, I’d gladly accept.

May 2025

Tilburg is not the kind of town that attracts tourists. In an ice cream shop (see below) the waitress/owner, when she found out we were from California, wanted to know what we were doing in Tilburg.

.Tilburg is not considered a small town (population: 220,000) by Dutch standards, but there’s not a lot of exciting stuff going on – other than the universities and the textile museum which shows the old glory of the wool textile town.

What’s in Tilburg? The Tilburg train station is in the middle of downtown, and the very walkable shopping and dining area spreads out south from there.

A very nice, well dressed lady greeted us and said in perfect English, “I sent my daughter to study in New York, and she came home wanting to make ice cream. So I sell the ice cream she makes here. I end up doing all the work!”

Tilburg seems like a nice city where people are content to live, work, study, and play whether outsiders visit or not. We probably would have gone there more to hang out if we stayed longer in the area.