After the epic road trip across the States, the last thing I wanted to do was sight-see. I mean, I’d moved to the Netherlands for a reason – to settle down for a while – and so being a tourist again so soon wasn’t on the agenda.
But life has a way of throwing you curveballs, which was exactly why we found ourselves killing time one day in The Hague while we waited to be able to move in to our new apartment in Amsterdam.
Scott found out about this service called the Global Greeter Network, which is groups of volunteers in many cities around the world that will show you around their city for free. The greeters are usually retired people, students or those who have some extra time on their hands and love their city so much that they will talk to you about it without charging a cost. That’s pretty admirable. And makes me feel guilty that I don’t know my home town well enough to to be able to do that right now!
Our greeter was Peter (I’m a poet and I don’t know it) and we were fortunate to have a sunny day to wander around the city with him one morning.
I’m not going to pretend that seeing a city with a greeter rivals taking a professional guide. It definitely doesn’t, and you won’t get as much history or in-depth background of buildings or events, but you will likely get to see some sights that the big tour guides don’t know about or don’t have time to cover. You will also get a much more personal experience, as greeters never accept groups of larger than around six people.
We got to see the Royal Palace, the Town Hall and the government buildings, among others. The Hague definitely surprised me with its prettiness, but for me, it just didn’t have the atmosphere and sparkle of Amsterdam. I guess it was the lack of canals and tall, skinny builidngs.
What definitely struck me about the city was how peaceful and green it was, although this may have been because it was a Monday morning, when many shops are closed.
Either way, I’m glad I finally got to see this political epicentre and I’m happy I got to see it with a local. I will definitely be looking for greeters in other cities I visit around the world, if only for the more personal experience.
Have you ever used a greeter in any city you’ve been to? And did you enjoy the experience or prefer a more organized monetized tour?
It’s tru, The Hague doesn’t have the atmosphere at Amsterdam. But for three years as I lived there I discovered many wonderful, unique places – not necessarily in the center. I miss for this place. I loved to ride on the bike accros the dunes, starting in Katwijk, ending in Hoek van Holland.