Not summer yet

Despite people working hard at the moment on the beach places so that they can open for Easter week end next week, the canal boats in the city centre are not so popular yet. The good weather has not arrived yet (provided it ever comes this year!).

Dirty canal

Here the bridge along the Hooftskade/Zuidwal canal in the Schilderswijk district of The Hague. Enlarge the photo and see how many plastic bottles are floating in the water....

This corner of the Hague represents a third of the city centre and was originally developed following strong demand in cheaper housing at the end of the XIX century (the population of the Hague grew between 1875 and 1900 from 100.000 to more than 200.000 inhabitants). Now, nearly 90% of the people leaving in this part are Turks, Moroccans or from Surinam and Dutch Antilles and this district is one of the poorest ones in the country...

Where is the water?

I still enjoy the canal views full of leaves.... Just another autumn view, probably last of its kind. Nearly all the leaves have fallen now...

Next canal

To complete yesterday's post, here is the main view of the wider "Bierkade" canal, which prolongs the "Dunne Bierkade". The main boat in the front is called the Hendrina Johanna (26m long * 4,15m wide). It was built in 1905, and has been restored and is now being used by the Ooievaart association. Between May and October you can tour on this boat and discover the main canals of The Hague.

Another canal view

Canal boats on the "Dunne Bierkade" in the centre. This canal is the last part of what is now being called the "Avenue Culinaire" of The Hague. I didn't have the opportunity to post any pic of the nice terrasses that you can find along those terrasses, not yet!!

This canal was digged around 1615, and is named after beer, then already the most important drink for all layers of the society. On this canal was the main location to trade beer with a lower alcohol percentage, the "dunne bier" or "clear beer". This beer with 1% alcohol was created then as an alternative to drink dirty water directly from the canal....Together with the next "Bierkade" canal, the place was already in the XVIIth century called the Beer Quay (to load / trade beer, which was coming from different part of the Netherlands).

Canal view

Even though it cannot be compared with Amsterdam, you can still wander in the Hague along a couple of nice canals. This one is located behind the Smidsplein next to the French and the American embassies.