The Hague by Bicycle

“Do you want a typical Dutch bicycle experience?” I was asked by a guide named Danny at Lola Bikes & Coffee in The Hague. “Sure,” I answered, eyeing dozens of colourful new cycles parked in the courtyard, secretly hoping I’d be allocated the sleek wooden framed bicycle locked directly outside. “Then I have just the thing for you” said Danny and went back into the store.

“Here it is a Dutch delivery bicycle” he said, wheeling back a cycle with a huge basket by the handlebars but, to my horror, no brake grips. Perhaps my face dropped but Danny was adamant. “Don’t worry this is the best way to get around here. To brake, all you need to do is reverse the pedals,” he said encouragingly. After adjusting the seat to my height and a couple of minutes of uncertain wobbling I quickly became used to the concept of reverse peddling to stop. We set off on tour of the city. Our first stop wasn’t the Peace Palace, which this year celebrates a century since it opened. Nor was it the Dutch Parliament, both of which featured on our tour. It was a baker’s shop, to purchase a traditional cake.

I was riding a delivery bicycle so, you guessed it, I ended up carrying the cakes for the group of seven of us taking the tour together. What I really enjoyed about this tour was that it provided an opportunity to get out and enjoy a sunny day on a bicycle at a relaxed pace. Rather than a typical tourism-orientated tour, our group size made it intimate enough to feel like a day out with a local.

“This is one of my favourite shops in The Hague” said Danny. He’d signalled that we should pull up outside of the window of a medals shop I’d otherwise have pedalled on by. Not, I hasten to add, because I couldn’t operate my brakes. By now I was fully in control of my creaking but perfectly roadworthy delivery bicycle. We also passed outside of the premises in which a young Vincent van Gogh had worked. If it hadn’t been for Danny, I’d probably have cycled straight past. Instead I was to learn something my guide deemed vital.

“Here in The Netherlands we don’t pronounce the name of the artist as ‘van Go’ or ‘van Goff’ its ‘van Gkoghghgh’,“ he croaked, with bright-eyed passion. “Now, before we move off, I’d like you to prove that you can pronounce Van Gogh’s name correctly and be an ambassador to the world. “van Gkogh,” I answered, not too shabbily. He handed a local liquorice sweet to each of us completing the task successfully.

Our tour took in a trip out to the attractive seaside market of Scheveningen, which is a tale worth telling in its own right, before pedalling back into The Hague late in the afternoon, to visit Van Kleef’s jenever distillery. Jenever tastes a little like gin but can be infused with flavours or drunk on its own. Sometimes it’s served with mixers and, traditionally with something savoury to eat, such as herring fillets, or matjes as they are known here. After learning about the history of the distillery and consuming a dozen glasses of varying flavours, I purchased a stone bottle of jenever, placed in my basket and cycled back into town before dropping off my bike. Thankfully I didn’t have to worry about driving the next morning and so, with an early start began exploring The Hague’s bars.

There are distinct advantages to travelling by rail!