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Showing posts from January, 2008

Around the Netherlands in 8 Days (3) - Off the Beaten Track 八日環遊荷蘭(3)—— 非一般的旅程

There's a good reason to be travelling with locals: it will take you to places out of the other tourists' way and offer you a most unique experience! 跟地頭蟲旅遊的一大好處,是保證行程獨特,體驗也與一般遊客不同。 29/12/2007 I spent this day with my Dutch hosts around Wageningen. In the town centre, there was a somewhat non-descript hotel called Hotel de Wereld (Hotel of The World), but it was the place where an important chapter of Dutch history was written. On 5th May 1945, it was at that hotel where the Germans signed for the unconditional surrender to the Canadian troops, ending the German occupation of the Netherlands. From then on, the Dutch celebrated their Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) every year on 5th May, and special ceremonies are hosted in Wageningen to commemorate this day. In the afternoon, we went on a cycling trip to the outer parts of town, and after a break we went for a hike in the nearby woods. On the way home, we took a detour and my Dutchie buddy led us to the 8th floor of the

Around the Netherlands in 8 Days (2) - The Hague 八日環遊荷蘭(2)—— 海牙

After the first two days in Amsterdam, I headed to The Hague (in Dutch: Den Haag or 's-Gravenhage) to meet my Dutchie buddy and his girlfriend. Time to relax and let them take charge of my travels! 在阿姆斯特丹逗留兩天後,我於12月28日前往海牙,與我的荷蘭好友及其女友會合,開展一個由他倆一手安排的行程。 Although everyone knows that Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, the Dutch government is actually seated in The Hague, together with the parliament, royal family and corps diplomatiques. Our first stop in The Hague was at the Binnenhof (Inner Court), where the two chambers of parliament, office of the Prime Minister and various other government offices were located. At the centre of Binnenhof stood the Ridderzaal (Knight's Hall), where the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands would give the royal speech at the start of each parliamentary year. 雖說阿姆斯特丹是荷蘭首都,海牙卻是荷蘭政府、國會、皇室及各國外交使節所在,而我們前往的第一站——海牙內院(Binnenhof),就包含了國會兩院、總理辦公室及其他政府機關。內院中央是騎士之廳,每年荷蘭女王都會在議會年度開幕時在那裡發表演說。 One of the entrances to Binnenhof 內院的其中一個入口 A panoramic view of