The Hague

This is the reason I took an hour train to The Hague:

Sidenote: I originally edited most of the paintings by rotating and cropping them, but then they looked like I downloaded them and uploaded the images. So I reverted them to original, so you can believe I actually saw these!

I had trouble sleeping all night, but still made my way to the train station to catch a morning train to The Hague. My first stop was to go to the Mauritshius which was within walking distance of the station. Mauritshius is a mansion now housing the National Picture Gallery. The museum has recently undergone a massive renovation and expansion, doubling in floor space. During the renovation, the collection was displayed at the Gemeentemuseum. Here's a picture of the ceiling:

The museum famously houses Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" as noted above as my reason for going to The Hague - here's a selfie with the painting below (this was no easy feat with the crowds):

Also one of the most famous Dutch paintings, Vermeer's "View of Delft" which is considered the best cityscape painting by a Dutch master:

I also enjoyed Jan Steen's "Girl Eating Oysters" which could be me as I love oysters! The painting is also very small (about 8 in x 5 in), so the detail was impressive:

Breughel and Rubens collaborated on this piece, "The Garden of Eden" - I hadn't realized that the Dutch masters had collaborated, but apparently they had as there were several examples:

After walking though the museum, I went next door to the Binnenhof and Ridderzaal, also known as the Inner Court and The Knights' Hall, the center of the Dutch government and Parliament. Here's a picture of the courtyard:

I then walked a few blocks to the former Winter Royal Palace which is now the M.C. Escher museum. His drawings and illusions are very popular in the U.S. I didn't realize he was Dutch! I enjoyed his drawing of the Mezquita which I visited in May when I went to Córdoba, Spain - you can see the candy cane arches vividly even though in pencil:

Other famous drawings you probably recognize:

A cool skull chandelier juxtaposed with the palace ceiling:

Some fun illusions from this very kid-friendly museum - the cube is drawn on the walls:

I then walked over to the Panorama Mesdag which is an extension of the Mesdag Gallery. The panorama is 45 ft high and 400 ft in circumference. The sand in the middle adds to the illusion and realness of the panorama:

I stopped in as it was included on my Museum Card and was on my way to the Peace Palace known for the International Court of Justice. I was warned by the U.S. embassy via email there would be demonstrations. Indeed there were white dove balloons and protestors, but the demonstration was very peaceful. Here's a collage of the palace and the word, "peace" which is translated in Korean below, and translated into different languages and inscribed on a stone bench:

I then walked about a mile to the Gemeentemuseum, also known as the Municipal Museum. They were having a Rothko exhibit which was very crowded. But the museum is known for housing the largest Mondrian collection in the world. Here's his famous "Victory Boogie Woogie":

The museum also housed an impressive collection of Delftware which are porcelain imitations of Chinese and Japanese ceramics. Apparently, the Dutch became really good at the imitations as they could study the many imports that were brought to the Netherlands. As a sidenote, one of my options for a day trip was to Delft. Here's a flower pyramid in the "Vases with Spouts" exhibit:

And a dollhouse that included a room holding miniature Delftware ceramics in the middle right as shown in zoomed portion of the photo collage:

I was starving by this point as I hadn't eaten lunch. So I grabbed a chicken sandwich and cappuccino in the museum cafe. I then took the tram that left in front of the museum directly back to the train station. I had thought to go out to the beach resort called Scheveningen for dinner, but it was too windy and I'd have to transfer trams. So, I took the 50 minute train ride back to Amsterdam. I looked through my guidebook for dining suggestions and didn't see anything I liked. So I walked around Center City, subject to secondhand marijuana smoke. 

I ended up at an adorable brasserie near my hotel called Van Speyk where I had the local draft beer, traditional Dutch stew, and a cheese plate. It was my waiter's 2nd day on the job, so he didn't know much, but was very nice. It's also very easy to converse here - I think I read about 90% of the Dutch can speak some English. Plus many of the words are very similar to English, so the signs are pretty understandable. Not sure if you can see the photos from my dinner that well as it was very dark:

I walked a ton today - over 17,000 steps to be exact. But it was worth it to enjoy the fall weather and the serenity of The Hague as pictured here: