I’m on my way to the city of the Netherlands, which is home to 150 international institutions and the “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. I am not alone, I myself come with me. Shall we begin?
A cold city in the north, unheard of, unspoken. It is 45 minutes from Amsterdam and 30 minutes from Rotterdam. After my undergraduate education, my long-term trip abroad, which I have been working on, making plans for, and covering many countries, begins to work as an intern architect.
The Netherlands has two airports: Rotterdam Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. My connecting flight from Istanbul takes around 3 and a half 4 hours. Our journey from Rotterdam to Den Haag is extremely short. In the future, I understand that it is extremely easy and fast to travel from any city to another city in this country. Transport networks, especially train travel, are comfortable, cheap and fast. A train leaves from Amsterdam every 15 minutes. At the same time, the existence of night trains is an opportunity to travel around the country. The cities are extremely close to each other.
Den Haag is located between Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The city is home to many museums. Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s famous work “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is located here in the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery. World-famous cars are open to visitors at the Lauwman Museum. The works of graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher who lived in the 1900s are exhibited in the Escher Palace Museum.
A city of art; open-air markets, cafes, bars, markets, restaurants where you can taste dishes from different cultures… The main center of all these is Grote Markt.

Sorry, Is This Heaven?
You wouldn’t be surprised if I say that roads, parks, apartments, everywhere you can think of are covered with canals in a country where a quarter of its territory is under the sea. But every day, going to work, walking, sometimes doing yoga through a nature park, among the flowers that bloom with spring, some of them spilled on the water and some on the grass… This comfort is astonishing. Yes, you are in the city, in the village, it should not be so easy to be in the countryside. It’s a luxury you can’t have in many parts of the world. However, the people here do not use this opportunity very much, because the city goes into a fast sleep after work. The streets are empty, quiet, calm… The tall people of this cold city also prefer to stay at home on Sundays. Yes, by the way, the tallest men in the world are also in the Netherlands.
Both Old and New
I’m crossing a street. Like Amsterdam, it reeks of history. With their incredible sloping roofs and their mastery in using bricks, they challenged the climate and at the same time shaped their structures with pleasing details. Then I turn to a street that is surrounded by skyscrapers that I have never seen before. Some with dome-shaped roofs, some with different angles and up-to-date materials. “What happened now? Am I in a metropolis?” The harmony of this city does not make one ask the question. There is such a harmony between them; material, color… They become references to each other from somewhere.

Design Small; Architectural Details
It is a thoughtful, masterful city. Every place you turn your head is like a work of art. For me as an architect, it is a visual feast that is a source of inspiration and enhances my creativity; every step is like a new reason to be happy… Even the colorful doors and the seating elements located in the gardens in front of the doors are as orderly and detailed as the surroundings. I understand that these people know how to enjoy every moment of life. They can design small and reach big pleasures.

Welcoming people of many nationalities; this is a place that invites peace, order and nature… It is modern, innovative, old, new and impressive.