One-Stop Sightseeing

A recent work trip to the Hague left me time to explore the city. Located less than an hour by train from Amsterdam, it’s best known as the seat of the International Criminal Court where war criminals get sent (unfortunately, there are a good number of people who deserve to be there but…). Guidebooks and the city’s website list some great ideas to explore the city. For me, the main branch of the city’s library seared into my mind as the highlight.
The first floor has a wonderful tourist office and souvenir shop. The cashiers could not have been more pleasant. The view from the café windows let you see the trams, cyclists or pedestrians clearly, providing an unobstructed area from which to people watch.
The top floor has an extensive music collection, my real reason for initially visiting. My enthusiastic amateur piano skills got to use the electric piano, trying to play the sheet music to “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (complete with Dutch translation, which did not make the song easy to learn) that I had bought from a flea market earlier in the weekend. It’s a first-come, first-serve basis, so be prepared to wait just in case. There is a traditional piano as well, which requires a small rental fee to reserve and play. I spent a great deal of free time looking through scores; finding the score to Massenet’s Le Cid sent me rushing to the copier.
During my time there, Elsewhere Tours offered an expansive and detailed tour of the city's downtown.