First, Go back to Day 3 and 4. Check out the photos (and a new video of the flight plan). We finally got phones to communicate (pro tip: When all else fails ‘put their heads together.’ It actually works.)
Second, This is a heave museum day. Picking the best of what we say there are still over 100 images. So there will be 2 (maybe 3) Day 5 posts. The first is the general ‘this is what we did/what we saw’ with a teaser or two. It will be followed by more in depth about what we saw. Don’t feel the need to spend any more time beyond this post than you want to. Enjoy.
This was a bit grand, so we used the elevator. 
Breakfast served in the main dining room. 
We met several other fellow travelers. 
Serving signature Hague candy in a shoe 
There’s a story about this skylight. 
There’s a story about this view too. 
The clock in Beauty and the Beast was modeled after this one. 
Some of the famous guests at this hotel. 
Finding your room number was an adventure. 
Expansive art on the walls. 
Opulent rooms with real furniture. 
OK, but we’d prefer counter space. 
Even the back staircase was elegant.
Our activity for the morning was a walking tour. But we started in the hotel. It seems that the hotel began its life as a royal residence. It burned down several times but in the beginning of its current incarnation the ground floor was a stable.
The circular view below the skylight looks down on where the carriages came in, deposited their passengers at the grand staircase, and turned around to leave.
The skylight above came to significance during World War II. The hotel was taken over as the headquarters of the occupying Nazi army. The proprietor at the time was sympathetic to the British. He was also a pigeoner(?) (someone who flew pigeons). He kept a dovecot up in the skylight and regularly flew pigeons over to England with information about Nazi plans and movements.
Leaving the hotel we moved across a plaza to the Escher Museum,
itself significant because of its significant collection of his works…
But was at one time the winter palace of the Queens of the Netherlands.
After a bit of history of the the Netherlands, their monarchy and such we moved on, passing the former US Embassy. The embassy has since moved out of town a ways. If this is an example of how we ‘blend in with the neighborhood’ (as does every other embassy in the vicinity) I think setting up shop somewhere else is a good idea. Nuff said.
Our next stop was a view of the Hofkapel – the oldest permanent seat of parliament in the world (Iceland’s parliament is older but they’ve moved about a bit). The building is currently under renovation (shoring up the foundation and such – we are, after all, below sea level here) so Parliament is currently meeting elsewhere but it’s impressive nonetheless.
Moving along the pathway
we stopped to talk about little Jan (remember him from yesterday)
At the plaza (at the other end) we learned that this was the formal gate to the parliament building – thru a corridor – now separated by a street.
Moving down the street we cut thru the first shopping mall to have a glass ceiling.
Coming out the other side we were treated by medieval bell towers.
Walking along the street we passed an apothecary. The symbol for these businesses was the ‘tongue man’.
Here are a few other sights we encountered along the way.
Old City Hall – Note the wooden shutters 
Stork – Symbol of the city. 
Manhole covers and such are emblazoned with the Stork 
Crowns indicating ‘the King’s Way’ 
The Golden Head – famous inn on the trade route from south to north 
random cheese merchant 
Royal Library dedicated to William of Orange 
Statue of William of Orange 
Working Castle of royal family 
Statue of Queen Wilhelmina, the Iron Queen 
Castle church 
restored relief in Castle Church wall 
last Alms House in The Hague 
Insurance company specializing in shipping – note the art 
Home of gun merchant – only non-royal home in the neighborhood
Returning back to the hotel we made a quick stop, then headed out to lunch.
Following a relaxing (and filling) lunch we walked a block to the east to check out a canal. The Hague, while not rivaling Amsterdam, has several picturesque canals and it seemed a shame to leave town without viewing one.
Back at the hotel we rested a bit, then grabbed umbrellas to slosh our way over to the Mauritshuis museum to check out some great Dutch art. I’ll include more than you could want in another post but here’s a teaser.
We spent just over an hour there (it was a pretty small collection) and then the Deegs returned to the hotel while the Marshalls stopped to check out the Escher museum. Again, more than you could want in another post, but a teaser:
We met for dinner in the hotel dining room. Then it was back to the rooms to finish packing.
Tomorrow is suitcases in the hall by 8:00 and on the bus at 8:30.
And that, as they say, is The Hague. I think we might be coming back someday.
Now to load up some art.
Later.