The Fountain in the foreground of this shot is dedicated to William II of Holland. He first built his palace in this spot in 1248!
When you exit the Binnenhof, you come out into a large open square, dominated by the
Hofvijver! A large "pond". You're in the
Buitenhof (Outer Courtyard).
If you continue on a bit, you'll come to
Mauritshuis, home to the famous Vermeer painting,
Girl with a Pearl Earring. It''s also home to one of my favorites,
The Goldfinch, by Carel Fabritius! Mauritshuis offers a lot of virtual tours and museum programming. You can find it
here.
While we DID go to Mauritshuis, I sighed over my perfect little finch, I didn't take any photos. We ventured further into the Hague and visited the Gemeente Museum, Den Haag. Apparently they have now changed their name to be more friendly to foreigners who cannot pronounce the
Dutch "G". It's now the
Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Well, doesn't sound much better to me. Whatever you call it, it's a beautiful building designed by our old friend and favorite Dutch architect,
HP Berlage. Just look at all these gorgeous lines and angles!! Fantastic!! The building is a work of art that houses a fantastic collection of art.
Is he though?!?
Direct from the catwalk!?!?!? Is that a trip from the litterbox?
Ah. This explains how he became ideal! We fell down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland. I'll just go have a chat with the caterpillar now.
2010
Ah. Our old friend the Teyler's Museum in Haarlem. This time, from the inside! This day has VERY special memories for us. Dutchboy and I decided to go to Haarlem early that day. We arrived and started strolling the Teyler's. It's a very old science and natural history museum, and filled with artifacts, bones, castings and scientific devices. Dutchboy is in paradise in there with all that equipment! But I have to admit, I was getting a bit bored. We were lagging in the first section, and look up and who do we see walking towards us?! Dutchboy's eldest sister! We were both so surprised to see her! Totally unplanned. We all yelled, "hey!!" and burst out laughing. She joined us on our ramblings that day. We still talk about the joy we felt, being surprised by a familiar face appearing so unexpectedly.
Since I was bored waiting for Dutchboy to exclaim over old technology, I took quite a few photos of the interior. Lucky you! Who knew I was doing you a favor??!
This is the floor ventilation covers. Yes, they are ALL this beautiful.
We wandered around Haarlem for a bit, and decided to have dinner together somewhere before heading home. None of the Family Dutchboy are Foodies-- food is fuel not fun. We had no idea where to eat! So we looked around and choose at random a place called
Specktakel. Little did we know that this was an experimental restaurant that was getting a lot of attention! Very positive attention. And the food was spectacular! We all opted to do the three-course tasting menu. We were feeling happy and content and wanted a celebratory evening and it was such a cozy place.
Dutchboy's sister opted to start with dumplings!
Bougie lil moi headed straight for the caviar!
Dutchboy got a salad. Booooooooooooooooooooring.
Except. He whispered: "Is this SUPPOSED to be in my food?"
Yup. Checking the menu we laughed and laughed and laughed. He ate around them. Though he ate some and didn't even know it. I guess the legs weren't as hairy as they looked. The rest of the meal was delicious, but really uneventful after Dutchboy's bugging out.
We all ordered the same dessert! And it was PERFECTION.
It was time to head to the train station and part ways. We took a longer way back and enjoyed the brish autumn evening. This is why you fall in love with Haarlem. Gorgeous.
Autumn canal reflections
2013
This photo is almost panic-inducing to me! One of my favorite places in Rotterdam is Hotel New York. It's the gorgeous building that used to be the sail point for the Holland America Cruise line. It is still a hotel, but they also have a wonderful cafe. It's across the harbor from the city, and a bit out of the way. Unless you take their water taxi. I hate boats. I hate small boats most of all. This was a VERY small boat. It would hold about four people and the captain, that kind of small. We are in a harbor and a barge had just passed by and we were crossing its wake. So the water was very rough. I was terrified. I was freaking out. I took pictures because life isn't frightening through a lens. But all I feel is anxiety when I look at the photos. For anyone who cares about such things, Erasmus Bridge is in the background.
2014
Tower of London. You can't visit London and not go see the Crown Jewels! We started with a tour. Do that. Because there are so many better things about the Tower than the jewels. As a jewelry loving lady, I don't say that lightly. The Beefeaters/Yeoman are absolutely fantastic storytellers who bring history to life.
Traitor's Gate. Infamous for being the entry to the Tower for people who committed treason, such Sir Thomas More and Elizabeth I (when she was Princess Elizabeth), and supposedly Anne Boleyn (though is now greatly disputed), it was really the water entry built by Edward I in the 1270's so he could gain access to St. Thomas Tower, a royal residence at the time. However, it's name was changed in the 1500s when it's purpose changed.
The Jewel House.
Life behind the Tower walls. The living quarters for the people who protect and serve at the Tower!
Did you know the Tower of London used to house the King's menagerie!? In honor of that past, artist Kendra Haste created wire sculptures and showcased them at the Tower. They're intricate and exquisite!
The poppies.
After the doom and gloom of the Tower, we headed out for an afternoon tea. Who doesn't prefer clotted cream to tales of clotted blood and mayhem? Though I have to admit, I felt rather like a country bumpkin, when Dutchboy dropped a napkin and reached for it on the floor, only to have a waiter "tsk" him and hand him a properly folded clean one.
The madness of
Piccadilly Circus. Looking back with my "2020" vision, seeing all these people crammed so close together makes me claustrophobic!
Then it was away from one form of madness to another! Harrod's. Shopping mecca and home to the Dodi and Diane shrine. You disappear inside the door to a paradise where anything is possible, if you have enough money. There is no day and night. Time stops. Apparently, even history can be re-written and a summer fling that ended in tragedy can be retold as an epic love story of the ages.
Not really wanting the night to end, we wandered back toward St. James, and found ourselves at Buckingham Palace and Victoria Monument. Big Ben chimed and we just didn't want to leave.
2019
Breda. I decided to go here, on a whim. I looked at a list of ten must-see places in the Netherlands and this was the only one I hadn't seen. Dutchboy didn't want to go, it was quite a train trip and it wasn't cheap (it was $70 round trip for both of us. We should have rented a car.) I knew NOTHING of Breda and I still don't. It is very beautiful and very walkable. It's lovely. But I don't have much to share in the way of commentary. So sit back and enjoy the photos.
I do know that this is the Nassau Monument. There was a plaque near by that told me that. I looked up the text, so you don't have to!: "On July 3, 1905,
Queen Wilhelmina unveiled the Barony or Nassau monument at the entrance of the
Valkenberg on Willemstraat. It was that year exactly five centuries ago,
that after his marriage to Johanna van Polanen, Count Engelbrecht I of Nassau
held his “Blyde Incomste” as Lord of Breda. With that, the dynasty of
Nassau, later Oranje Nassau, settled in the Netherlands."
This was some type of military academy? Military training center?
The Oude Stadhuis (old City Hall).
Apparently the people in Breda have very strong feelings about cake.
Yep. Swimming in sprinkles.
Bringing skatin' back.
Supper time! It was pouring and this cafe was our refuge in the rain.
Ordered a starter. We decided on the bread. I didn't know it was a whole LOAF.
They had really great carpaccio. It's one of my favorite things about our yearly trip. I can eat carpaccio that I can't eat in North Carolina. Serving raw meat isn't allowed, no matter how thinly you slice it.
Until tomorrow!
Tot Ziens!
