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Published: March 7th 2010
Mauritshuis
Holds Vermeer's "The Girl with the Pearl Earring"Hey everyone!
These past few days have been full of wonderful small towns and checking out some great museums. The history that surrounds you in this place is amazing as does all of Europe. I'm very much looking forward to visiting Belgium this week.
Anyway, so what did I do? I've been pretty lucky these past few days as the sun has been shining, it's certainly been holding in the crisp 20s and 30s but nonetheless, I can't complain as it has only rained once since I've been here. So here's what I've done so far...
On Thursday, I headed out to visit the center of the city by taking a walk to one of the museums called the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, it holds 3 Johannes Vermeer paintings. He's one of the many famous Dutch painters that this country has to offer. The one in particular that is famous to many that is housed here is "The Girl with the Pearl Earring." It's quite stunning in person and definitely beats the Colin Firth movie, Scarlett Johansson is nothing compared to the real thing. From there, I walked around this historical city and walked thru the Binnehof, which
is the Parliament Complex. You would think that such a prominent building as this, it would be blocked off from the public, but you can easily pass thru here by foot or of course by bike. This is pretty much the city center as surrounding it, there are many cafes and shops to walk thru. Of course, they had the usual eateries of McDonalds, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I really think they need to open a Taco Bell.
Friday, which was the only gloomy day, I took the train to a small town called Delft. It's about a 10 minute train ride from the Hague and it is where Vermeer is from. On the way over, I was caught by the train police for not having purchased the proper ticket. Oops! I bought a discount ticket and I didn't realize I had to have an accompanying discount card. He graciously let this slide, but if not, I would've had to pay 35 euro... phew!! I finally arrived with money still in hand. This is a really beautiful city, it's quaint and is also really known for it's Delft Blue earthenware. (See the picture of the vase) This
Bikes and bikes and more bikes
This is a common view within Holland. city is really tranquil and has many canals running thru the town that Holland is popular for. I wandered thru this city for about 3-4 hours. It's a place I would definitely return to. During those hours, I went to the Vermeer Center, which is all about Vermeer and then I headed over to Het Prinsenhof which is where William of Orange was shot! This museum also showcases the rise of the Dutch empire thru the 17th century.
On Saturday, Lisa, Gayle and I took the train over to another small town called Leidenn. This is another amazing town full of windmills, canals and that day they had an open market. The sun was shining and all the Dutch people were out eating and drinking outside despite the chilly weather. We ate lunch there, and we had a "Dutch pancake" or pannekoeken. It's not as thick as the American pancake but it's more like a crepe but twice as big. If you saw Lisa's pictures of me on FB, you'll understand the size. They were yummy though. We walked thru the town and went shopping at the market. They sold all sorts of stuff as you'll see in the
Delft
One of many canals within the town. photos.
Later on that day, Lisa made a yummy American dinner for some of her co-workers or other ex-pats living here in the NL. So we had cheeseburgers and mac and cheese... ha! Quite delicious. Earlier that day, I rented a bike from the train station. The Dutch don't care about how cold it is, they'll bike anywhere and anytime. I find it fascinating that they've embraced this and mind you, they don't wear helmets and I actually saw a woman riding with 2 of her kids on the back of the bike. The roads here in NL have sidewalks, the actual roads for the cars and specific bike lanes. We were headed to a party of one of Lisa's colleagues and so we didn't want to cab it or walk so we biked, in mind-numbing 29 degree weather and with the wind-chill it felt like 20 degrees... brrr! But I made it and got myself a good workout, thankfully the roads are flat, so it's really easy to ride. Though my bike looked really kid size next to Lisa's, I had to peddle twice as fast to keep up with her. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed myself
Bullet holes at Prinsenhof
Place where William of Orange was shot. riding thru the city in true Dutch fashion. Who would have thought that I would go to a party by riding a bike in 20-something degree weather. Awesome!
Today is another beautiful and sunny day, Lisa and I headed over to the Escher Museum. He's another well-known Dutch artist, known in particular for his optical illusions. His work is housed in what was the former palace of the great-grandmother to the Queen of Holland. This house had some crazy chandeliers as you'll see in the pics. Wild, which is probably suitable in the fact the Escher's work was quite eclectic for his time.
I've definitely explored the Hague and it's surrounding towns and when I return from Africa, I'll head up north to Amsterdam. Tomorrow I'll head to Belgium, Bruges and Brussels. I'll do my best to post when I return from there. I might not have a connection as Lisa B is heading out on a business trip, so I'll probably have to find an internet cafe.
Enjoy and Aloha!!
Leilani, Moo, Lani 😊
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Bobby Moldavon
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Lani goes Dutch
hey moo, great stuff, soaking up "culture" while biking, who knew? so glad the sun is shinning, not surprising though, suhshine follows where er you go, so that's a given. can't wait to see the Bruges pics. have fun, but it appears you're already doing that. see you when you get back and with this cool site, while you're gone......