Show #10 Video of couple travel to Madurodam & Scheveningen Holland, Netherlands. This couples vacation show highlights sightseeing things to see and do in Madurodam and Scheveningen such as the yearly Sand Sculpture Festival the Scheveningen Beach and Boardwalk and the of course all of Holland in miniature.

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Video Script

Couple Vacations; Maduradam Scheveningen Holland Netherlands; Boomer & Senior Travel TV #10 by Debbie Gerber

Couple Vacations; Maduradam Scheveningen Holland: #10

Time Line for Youtube description:

00:07  Maduradam Entrance – Hans Brinker finger in dyke

1:02  Miniture Holland 1:25 size

5:46  Scheveningen Beach Sand Sculpture

8:52  Scheveningen Restaurants Beach Lounges

 

Script in paragraph form:

Welcome to Scatter Travel I am Debbie Gerber. In front of the entrance to Maduradam is the little boy who stuck his finger in the dyke to save Holland. I remember this story by Mary Mapes Dodge. It was a story when I grew up call Hans Brinker and The Silver Skates.

Maduradam Park is a little miniature of Holland. Everything in Holland here are 1:25 scale size. All the major attractions in Holland Netherlands are represented here.

Maduradam is close to The Hague. It is a fun place to go and walk through. It is a good place to start a trip. You can figure out what you want to see by coming here to Maduradam. We like to come to Maduradam to just to walk around and see the places we have been to and places we still want to see in the Netherlands.

It is amazing how exact and precise the buildings, trees, plants, animals, vehicles and people are.  They are all made at one twenty fifth of the size of the original buildings and landscapes.

The park originally opened in 1952. It has grown since then. Every time I go there I am amazed at the things that I see. One of the things that I am really amazed at is the work that it takes to keep this property up. If you imagine all of the trees and plants that have to be kept in miniature and what it requires in trimming.   They trim them 6-10 times a year to keep them small… I mean one little Bonsai tree nearly drove me insane trying to keep it trimmed and proper. Can you imagine having an entire park of little trees to keep in this miniature size to match the buildings?

A lot of the scenes in there have actions. One had a raising bridge and then the boat would go through when the bridge raised. There are cars moving down the streets, people, dogs, trains and parades all in movement. Everything that you can imagine moving around in a real city is moving around here.

Here is a little carnival that has a real moving roller coaster. It’s hilarious. We laughed and laughed. We spent a lot of time watching this one. It was fun. It had so many little moving parts and rides. It’s extremely complicated all the things that are in action. It is like looking down from Heaven at a real amusement park.

Originally Maduradam was opened as a war memorial and as a charity foundations. Now it is a major tourist attraction. Kids love it and adults love it. We have always enjoyed going to Maduradam.

I think it needs to be more publicized.  More people need to have a chance to know that it exists. It is near a lot of other things that you would go to see as a tourist in Holland. So it is an easy stop for something different and unique to see.

My husband liked playing being a giant hovering over a windmill because in real life windmills are super tall so this was just something to play with. We took pictures of him pretending to blow the paddles of the windmill and then of course he had to go to the next building and be the giant there too. We just had a blast as well as getting to see the artistry of these wonderful miniature buildings and scenes of actual places in Holland.

The park is all laid out in a little meandering pathway so as you walk down the little sidewalks and they marked in numerical order. They give you a little pamphlet at the entrance that has each of the numbers that coordinates with each numbered scene so that you know what the buildings and scenes are as you go around. You can find little green signs next to each scene with the numbers on them.

The sidewalks are marked with arrows to tell you where to go so that you stay in the patternas you walk around the park. I just couldn’t get over all the trees that they have to keep in miniature. Some of them are in bloom. They said that some of them even produce fruit. It is huge undertaking for them.

We loved the miniature water park and one of the funny things we saw a regular size duck land

in the scene. There was this large full size live duck walking in the little miniature scene. It looked really funny. It was not what you would expect to see.

Another favorite scene was a rock concert. They had a little band in there and it is playing

There were lots of little people standing around it watching it was set so that you were standing with them in the back of the scene.  It made it you want to go and sit down and join the concert. That is what you would think of doing but you are this giant with these little tiny people. It was really kind of a cool. We spent some time at this little scene. There are so many little scenes but I have my favorites. I loved the amusement park, the airport, the concert, the fire boat, the Hague, the wooden show factory, and one of my favorite places Muiden Castle.

We have a great time every time we go to Maduradam. It is one of our favorite things to see and do in Holland Netherlands. I highly recommend it to anyone that goes to Holland.

We were excited to be in Scheveningen during the time that they were having the sand sculpture festival. We got there after the sculptures had been completed. They are on display for a while. They have gates around them so no one can ruin them. It was really interesting because they can’t use the sand on the beach even though it is right there at the beach. They can’t use it because it is not sticky enough. So they haul in river sand which is a square sand so it sticks together better.

These sculptures are done by professional sculptors. They are very precise beautiful sculpture work. You can hardly believe that they are made out of sand.

This year it took 9 days to complete the sculptures. It was in honor of The World Wildlife Fund to help raise money for that. The theme was “Save Our Planet.” It is an open air exhibit. You can just go there and walk around and see them.

Originally I guess there was a sand sculptor named Gerry Kirk. He brought sand sculpting to the Netherlands in 1991 and started this festival. He tries to promote sand sculpting around the world. The sand sculptors came from The World Sand Sculpting Academy.

There was 300 tons of sand brought in to do these sculptures. You can imagine that this was quite an undertaking. The festival happens every year so check the dates and if you get a chance they are on display for a month or so after the festival. If you get a chance it is awesome to go and see the abilities of these great artists. It makes you want to build something out in the sand.

You need to have a look at some of these sand sculptures and how wonderful they are. Scheveningen is a fun place to go whether the sand sculptures are there or not. There is a beautiful long beach. There is a board walk with all kinds of things going on. There are restaurants and fast food stands. Of course there are Freetz stands and ice creams stands which were our favorites. There were sandwich shops as well as nice restaurants.

It is a great place to go set along a long beautiful beach with a long pier and a building out on the end of it. The restaurants that are out on the beach and have lounging areas. They are huge and well attended. It would be a fun place to go if you want to be part of a social crowd and see lots of people.

We had to remember that we were there in the winter time so it wasn’t very busy at the time we were there. There were very few people there during the day. I love the lounges at the restaurant. They were these huge half circle couch things that you could lay out on.  You can lounge on them and have your drink and lunch served to you while you relax and look out over the rest of the beach. It is a nice people watching area.

Like I said it is a fairly long board walk area that has restaurants and activities along it. There is a merry-go-round with a lot of people participating in that. Seeing the Merry-go-round reminded me of old movies. It you were on a board walk at the beach they also had a Merry-go-round. It is all kind of part of the ambiance of being in Scheveningen on the beach.

There is also the Sea Life museum and aquarium on the board walk.  There is even and area in the Sea Life Museum where you can touch some of the sea life.

Both Maduradam and Scheveningen are easy to find and a fun tourist attractions in the Netherlands. Enjoy these places when you go to Holland.

Time Script loaded onto youtube:

00:00:00.0,00:00:03.878

[music] Welcome to Scatter Travel

00:00:03.878,00:00:06.339

I am Debbie Gerber

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This is the little boy who stuck his finger in the dyke

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to save Holland. I remember this story by

00:00:13.096,00:00:15.557

Mary Mapes Dodge. It was a story when I

00:00:15.557,00:00:18.112

grew up call Hans Brinker and The Silver Skates

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It is a the entrance to Maduradam.

00:00:20.108,00:00:25.403

Maduradam is a little miniature of Holland.

00:00:25.403,00:00:27.260

Everything in Holland here

00:00:27.26,00:00:31.161

They are 1:25 scale size. All the major attractions

00:00:31.161,00:00:33.715

are represented here.

00:00:36.067,00:00:38.313

Maduradam is close to the Hague.

00:00:38.313,00:00:41.146

It is a fun place to go and walk through.

00:00:41.146,00:00:44.443

It is a good place to start a trip. You can figure out

00:00:44.443,00:00:50.341

what you want to see by coming here to Maduradam.

00:00:50.341,00:00:53.824

It is a fun place to come. We like to come to Maduradam

00:00:53.824,00:00:56.192

to just to walk around and see the places we

00:00:56.192,00:00:58.839

have been to and places we still want to see.

00:00:58.839,00:01:02.276

It is amazing how exact and precise

00:01:02.276,00:01:05.202

are the buildings are the are all

00:01:05.202,00:01:07.617

made at one twenty fifth of the size

00:01:07.617,00:01:09.939

of the original buildings and landscapes.

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The park originally opened

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in 1952. It has grown since then

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Every time I go there I am amazed

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at the things that I see. One of the things

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that I am really amazed at

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at the work that it takes to keep this property up.

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If you imagine all of the trees

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and plants that have to be kept in

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in miniature requires that they

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trim them 6-10 times a year to keep them

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.. I mean one little Bonsai tree takes

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nearly drove me insane trying to keep it

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trimmed and proper. Can you imagine

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having an entire park of little trees to keep

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in this miniature size.

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to match the buildings.

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and a lot of the attractions

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in there have actions like this one had a raising

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bridge and then the boat would go through

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There are cars moving down the streets

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and people and dogs and vans and parades

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every thing you can imagine moving around.

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Here is a little carnival and there is a real roller coaster.

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It’s hilarious. We laughed and laughed.

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We spent a lot of time watching this one. It was fun.

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Look at all the little moving parts.

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It’s extremely complicated all the things that

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have and keep going on there.

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Originally this was opened as a

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war memorial and a charity

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foundations. Now it is a major tourist attraction.

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Kids love it and adults love it.

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We have always enjoyed going to this

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to this park. I think it needs to be more publicized.

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More people need to have a chance to know

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the it exists. It is near a lot of other things

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that you would go to see in Holland.

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Here is my husband being the

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giant at the windmill. Because windmills are

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super tall so this was just something

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to play with so he is blowing

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the windmill and then of course he has to

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to the next building and be the

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the giant and look

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look over the top of it. We just had

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a blast as well as see

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these wonderful miniature buildings.

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It is all laid out in a little

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pathway so that you can walk down the

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little sidewalks and they are marked. They give you

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a little pamphlet that has

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each of the numbers and what the buildings are

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so as you go the buildings are numbered

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you can see the little green sign next to me

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where the buildings are numbered and

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as you go along each little scene is numbered and

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and you can look in your book and see what it is

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The sidewalks are marked with arrows to tell you

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where to go so that you stay in the pattern

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as you walk around

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the park. Look at all the trees that they have to

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keep in miniature. Some of them are in bloom

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They said that some of them even produce fruit.

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It is huge undertaking for them.

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Here is a water park. One of the fun things we did

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was we saw a regular size duck land

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in one of these scenes. Here was this

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large live duck around these little miniature

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things. It looked really funny.

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It was not what you would expect to see.

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Here is a concert

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They have a little band in there and it is playing

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You have all the people and

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you are standing back there watch. It made it

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you want to go and sit down and join

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the concert. That is what you would

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think of doing but you are this giant

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with these little tiny people.

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It was really kind of a cool thing to do.

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We spent some time at this

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little scene. There are so many but I have

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pick a few of my favorites. Here we are

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we are waving goodbye. We have had a great

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time at Maduradam.

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I highly recommend it to anyone.

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That goes to Holland.

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We were excited to be in

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Scheveningen during the time that they were

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the sand sculpture festival.

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We got there after they had been completed.

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They are on display for a while. They have gates

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around them so no one can ruin them.

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It was really interesting because they can’t use

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the sand on the beach even though it is right there

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at the beach. They can’t use it because it is not

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sticky enough. So they haul

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river sand which is a square sand

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so it sticks together better.

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These sculptures are done by

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by professional sculptors

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They are very precise.

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Beautiful sculpting work.

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You can hardly believe that it is made out of sand.

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This year it took

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9 days to complete the sculptures.

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There were seven sculptures.

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It was in honor of The World

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Wild Fund.

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to help raise money

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for that. The theme was

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Save Our Planet.

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It is an open air exhibit. You can just go there

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and walk around and see them.

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Originally I guess there was

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a sand sculptor named Gerry Kirk

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He brought sand sculpting to the Netherlands in

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1991 and started this festival.

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He tries to promote sand sculpting

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around the world.

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The sand sculptors came from The World

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Sand Sculpting Academy.

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There was 300 tons of sand brought

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in to do these sculptures.

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You can imagine that this was quite an undertaking.

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The festival happens every year

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so check the dates and if you get a chance

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they are on display for a month or so after the

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the festival. If you get a chance

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it is awesome to go and see

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the abilities. It makes you want to

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build something out in the sand.

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Have a look at some of these sand sculptures

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wonderful they are. Scheveningen

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is a fun place to go whether the sand

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sculptures are there or not.

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There is a beautiful long beach. There is a board

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walk with all kinds of

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things going on. There are restaurants

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there are fast food stands. Of course there are Freetz

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stand and ice creams stands which were our favorites

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stand and ice creams stands which were our favorites

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There were sandwich shops as well as nice restaurants.

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It is a great place to go. Beautiful

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beach with a long pier

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with a building out on the end of it.

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The restaurants that are out on the beach

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have lounging areas

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They are huge and well attended.

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It would be a fun place to go if you want a social

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crowd. See lots of people

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Remembering that we were there in the winter time

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so it wasn’t very busy at the time we were there.

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There were a few people there during the day.

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I love the lounges. They were

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these huge half circle

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couch things that you could lay out on.

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There they are

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You would have your drink and your

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lunch served to you there and look out

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out over the rest of the beach and watch the

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people. It is a nice people watching

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area. Like I said a fairly long

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board walk area that has

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restaurants and things on it.

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There is also a

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area for people

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to kind of play. There is a merry-go-round there

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There was lots of people participating in that.

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Seeing the Merry-go-round reminds you

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being on a board walk on a beach. It is all kind of

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part of the ambiance of being

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in Scheveningen and on this board walk.

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with the beach. There is also the Sea Life

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museum there. It is a

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It is a sea life aquarium.

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where you can go. There is even

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touching some of the sea life animals.

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That is another fun destination all there

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on the board walk of Scheveningen Beach.

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Easy to find and a fun place to go.

00:10:16.908,00:10:19.51

Enjoy these places when you go to Holland.

00:10:19.508,00:10:28.60

[music]