my first day in holland was spent with frank & his wife (tracey) wandering around scheveningen & the hague. scheveningen (which i never learned to pronounce correctly) is a beach resort town, on the north sea, and a suburb of the hague. i wasn't prepared for the traffic and bustle, and we ducked into a cafe to refresh ourselves. here i discovered the most ridiculous thing about holland --you have to pay to use public restrooms. it's only about $.25, but it's the PRINCIPLE of the thing, dammit. i quickly learned that you really don't *have* to pay, but the little old ladies who tend to the restroom get a little snippy if you don't.

frank also stopped in a bookstore to purchase "the red light guide" for me, an amazingly thorough guide to the red light district in amsterdam. our plans had us visiting amsterdam more than a week from now, but i suppose frank thought it best if i were really prepared for our impending trip. ;)

in the hague we saw lots of old government buildings, the parliament, and one of the queen's residences. unfortunately, i wasn't prepared to be a tourist this first day, so i don't have any photos to share. suffice to say, though, the hague was very urban, very busy, and quite large.

when we finally found a chinese restaurant for dinner, i was introduced to a popular dish - sateh. i can't begin to explain what it tastes like, other than to say it's like an oriental peanut butter sauce. i found it rather yucky, but everyone else i encountered seemed to like it. it's served with kebabs, as well as with french fries.

frank & i met through our mutual interest in Talking Heads and David Byrne, and when we returned to his apartment in scheveningen, we perused his extensive collection of records and cds and such, and talked of our anticipation of going to 2 David Byrne concerts over the next 2 days.

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