Girl with a Pearl Earring

A very short evening flight took us to Schiphol Airport on the outskirts of Amsterdam.  The queue to pass through customs was very long however, once we had passed through, we were only a quick bus ride away from our hotel, where we pretty much went straight to bed as we wanted to be out early the following morning.

 

The next day we took a pleasant train journey to Den Haag (The Hague), the capital of the Netherlands.  We quickly deposited our bags at the hotel and set out to explore the city.  The Hague is a beautiful town, with many lovely buildings and streets and a canal system around the old city centre.  It was a great introduction to the beauty of the Netherlands.

 

The main reason for our trip to The Hague was to visit the Mauritshuis the museum that exhibits many paintings by Dutch masters.  Primarily I wanted to see the Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.  This painting, despite being smaller than I had anticipated, was alone worth our trip to the Netherlands.  The restored masterpiece is mesmerizing, with the girl’s skin having an almost translucent glow.  Photographs and prints simply do not do the painting justice and Michael and I returned to the artwork again before leaving the gallery, such was the painting’s allure.  The museum housed many other beautiful artworks, most notably a wonderful painting by Rubens, Old Woman and Boy with Candles.

 

Michael and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Escher Museum, which is housed in the former Winter Palace of the Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands.  There were many works by Escher, the most spectacular being a 7 metre long Metamorphosis – an enormous woodcut.  The top floor of the museum features optical illusions, which tricked the eyes at every turn.  One feature of the museum, which fascinated me, was the collection of 15 enormous chandeliers scattered throughout the building.  They were made by the artist Hans van Bentem, and featured objects like spiders, seahorses and an enormous skull.  They were very impressive.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips 

 

I was sorry to say goodbye to The Hague and would definitely like to return for a longer stay, however we needed to move on to our next destination.  A very short train journey took us to Leiden, where once again we quickly deposited our bags and caught a bus to Keukenhof, the most beautiful spring garden in the world.  We were lucky enough to be in the Netherlands at tulip time and Keukenhof, an area of 32 hectares, holds over 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.  There are also pavilions showcasing orchids, roses and lilies.  

 We thought that we might spend a couple of hours there however, once we saw the magnificent displays, we ended up spending the entire day.  I could go on forever about the endless varieties, colours and different sized tulips that were displayed, but to be honest, there are not enough adjectives to adequately describe their beauty.  Michael has displayed a selection of our photos at the end of this blog for those interested in seeing a small example of their endless variety.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I would love to return and take one of the whisper boat trips through the bulb fields, which surround the Keukenhof.

 

We returned to Leiden and were surprised to discover a beautiful mediaeval city stretching our behind our hotel, very different from the city which is visible from the train station.  There are lovely canals, streets lined with centuries-old buildings, windmills and gardens.  It is also the birthplace of Rembrandt.  It is a lovely city to walk around and I found myself envying the people who lived in such a beautiful place.  There was also a fabulous street market, selling fresh produce and just about anything else you could possibly want.

 

We took a day trip to Delft, yet another lovely town.  The city is probably most famous around the world for manufacturing Delftware, hand-painted blue and white pottery.  I have never particularly liked this pottery however it was interesting seeing all the different wares, including the tiles.  Michael and I visited the Oude Kerk (Old Church), with its famous leaning brick tower.  The church dates back to 1246 and is a grand, if strangely plain church.  Johannes Vermeer is buried there.

 

We also visited the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).  This church dates back to the 14^th century and is the burial place of members of the House of Orange-Nassau.  It is an imposing looking church, which dominates the Delft Market Square.  Interesting displays have been set up which detail the history of the church and we spent quite a while exploring the building before heading to the Vermeer Centre, a multi-media exhibition which explains the work of Vermeer and his contemporaries.

 

A day trip to Delft really doesn’t do the city justice, and I would love to return and spend a few days exploring this lovely town.

Michael found a great restaurant for our final evening in Leiden.  The restaurant was crowded, with two large groups occupying the bulk of the tables – one group celebrating a birthday, whilst the other celebrated a bachelor party.  The entire restaurant joined in singing the Dutch version of happy birthday – a raucous song, which entailed much banging on the table.  This was followed by the groom-to-be (who was dressed as Fred Flintstone) being nominated by his fellow partygoers, (who were all wearing headbands with bones), to serenade the birthday group.  He then proceeded to sing a very respectable version of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, which was roundly cheered by the restaurant.  It made for a memorable evening and whenever I hear that song I will be reminded of beautiful Leiden.

 

Lost in Amsterdam   

 

Another train journey, this time to Amsterdam, where we stuck to our familiar routine of quickly dropping our bags at the hotel before setting out to explore the city.  It came as a bit of a shock to find ourselves surrounded by crowds of people, as we had become used to a rather more sedate way of life in the previous cities.  The first thing that we noticed was the number of bicycles.  Cyclists were everywhere but truly staggering was the sight of thousands upon thousands of bicycles parked in the bicycle parking lots.  There were even underground cycle parking lots.  I have no idea how people could locate their bike among so many seemingly identical bicycles.

 

Michael and I headed to the Rijksmuseum, the largest museum in the Netherlands.  It seems that a few other people had the same idea, as we had to queue for over an hour to gain entry.  Michael was keen to see the Rembrandt paintings on display, most notably The Night Watch.  I have never been too much of a fan of Rembrandt, as most of his works that I had seen to date, were very dark, gloomy looking paintings.  My opinion has now changed, as the works on display at the Rijksmuseum are particularly lively with interesting subjects.  The Night Watch is huge and there were a number of self-portraits, which were painted as a young man.  There were also some very good paintings by Frans Hals as well as Woman in Blue Reading a Letter by Vermeer.  Unfortunately, The Milkmaid was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the time of our visit. 

 

The following day we decided to visit the Van Gogh Museum.  This time, we had to queue for two and half hours in 6 degrees temperature to gain entry.  I would seriously hate to visit Amsterdam in the summertime, as you must just spend the entire time queuing.  Anyway, we finally made it through the doors and were able to see some of his famous works.  I have never been a Van Gogh enthusiast (with the exception of The Starry Night – I like the colours in that one), and unfortunately this museum didn’t really change my opinion.  I have never really understood how he came to be so popular however greater minds than mine have decreed that he is a master so I shall just have to accept it.  Michael thoroughly enjoyed the visit so the wait was worth it.

A change of pace saw us take in the Heineken Experience.  The brewery was established in 1864 and the now defunct brewery showcases the history of the beer.  The museum is interesting and I particularly liked seeing the draught horses in the stable area.  They are still used to drag carts through the streets of Amsterdam to promote the beer and museum.  We were able to taste the beer at the conclusion of our tour.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon however, I may be biased, but I think that the Guinness tour is better.

 

We had hoped to visit Anne Frank House however Michael was not keen to queue for the estimated 2 hours that it would take to gain entry.  This was despite being told by one of the operators that the queue was the shortest that it had been all week, as people had been waiting more than 4 hours to enter the house.  It is extraordinary that such a young, sad life has touched so many people.

 

The Netherlands is a beautiful country and I would like to return to explore more of The Hague, Leiden and Delft as well as other towns in the countryside.  Neither Michael nor I warmed to Amsterdam, as it seemed to lack the charm of other European cities.