Day 1 - arrival in Amsterdam & Train to Den Haag
We arrived in Amsterdam this morning and after dropping off our luggage at the Radisson Blu Hotel, we took the train to Den Haag. We decided not to take the bikes, which we later regretted. Note to self: always take your bikes when in the Netherlands!
Our first plan upon arrival in the Hague was to climb the Groot Kerk tower, but unfortunately we were too late to book a spot for the last climb of the day. Instead, we wandered around the beautiful old city and then started walking towards the beach. It is not a really long walk, but because our time was limited, we wanted to get there as fast as possible. We decided to try to rent bikes. There was a choice of Donkey or Lime, but both failed because we didn't have a phone number (we were using eSIMs). So we continued walking. It was getting hot and we kept seeing the tram whiz past, obviously heading to the beach.
Finally, I approached a woman who was waiting at the tram stop and asked her if she knew how we could pay for a ride. She said she thought we could use a credit card, so we decided to try. When I got on, I scanned my card using Apple pay and it made a noise and showed a check mark, but nothing appeared my phone as an indication that payment had gone through. We got off at the beach and enjoyed a walk along the shore (we didn't have our bathing suits with us). When it was time to go back, we decided to try the tram again. I scanned my card and got the green check mark, but again nothing happened to show a payment. I had no idea what to do, so we just kept riding. I scanned again as I got off, thinking maybe that was the secret, but still nothing. It makes me wonder what happened when I scanned, as I got a green check mark each time.
I love the city of Den Haag and I had a very positive visit there in 2019, when I stayed in a hotel and rented a bike from there, but this time I felt slightly annoyed at how unfriendly it seemed to tourists. Of course, if we had brought our own bikes, everything would have been hunky dory.
