Day 9 - The Hague

Rain was coming and each day was getting colder with the wind chill. We decided today would be a good day to take a 45 minute train to The Hague. It was also a chance for Mom to see some of the countryside. We sped through fields that were formerly filled with tulips and saw many miniature gardens behind people's homes that were growing winter veggies. Upon our arrival at The Hague, the storm clouds were threatening rain. We had a 20 minute walk through the pedestrian streets. It was Sunday morning and the town was very quiet.

The Hague is the home of the Mauritshuis Museum. "The Goldfinch" and the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" as well as the only landscape by Vermeer are the highlights of the collection. The Museum closed in January 2012 and reopened in June of 2014 after undergoing a massive renovation. The Mauritshuis Museum is decribed as ‘the smallest of the great museums, and the greatest of the small museums’.

The last time I visited this museum was in 2006. I was very excited to visit with some of my favorite paintings and my favorite artist, Vermeer. The Museum had a great visitors app, so we each were able to use our phone and ipad to learn more about each painting. Again, Matt quietly enjoyed the paintings while letting me have my own time to visit with my friends. "The Goldfinch" is still a painting that combines sweetness and sadness for me. I love this painting but I hated the Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the painitng. This was my 3rd visit with "The Girl with a Pearl Earring." I never get tired of seeing her. My favorite Vermeer painting hangs in Dublin's National Museum of Ireland called, "Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid." We are very good friends.

During the museum's renovation,  "Pearl Earring" was on tour and spent some time at the DeYoung in San Francisco. I took Mom to see the painting there, but the experience of seeing her behind glass and not getting any closer than 10 feet, was not at all the same as when I saw her in 2006 at the Mauritshuis. It was good to see her back where she belonged where I could be as close as I liked. Mom enjoyed seeing her here much more too.

One surprise was "Appelles Painting Campaspe" c. 1630 by Willem van Haecht. The incredible detail in this painting kept the 3 of us transfixed while trying to comprehend how this was painted. The details in the smaller paintings were incredible.

Prior to leaving the museum, we popped into the gift shop. I am constantly surprised at how great works of art are demeaned by being turned into swag. I truly do not think Vermeer would be happy to see "The Rubber Ducky with a Pearl Earring."

We said goodbye to our friends and were back on the quiet streets. Matt asked if I had ever seen the Panorama Mesdag Museum? I had no idea what it was, so he walked us to the museum feeling that it was something I would appreciate. Turns out the museum closed after Matt's visit in 2003 to undergo a 10 YEAR renovation! It took so long because no one really knew how they would save the panorama painting.

The Panorama Mesdag (1880) is a cylindrical painting (also known as a Cyclorama) more than 14 meters high and about 40 meters in diameter (120 meters in circumference). From an observation gallery in the center of the room the cylindrical perspective creates the illusion that the viewer is on a high sand dune overlooking the sea, beaches and village of Scheveningen in the late 19th century. A foreground of fake terrain around the viewing gallery hides the base of the painting and makes the illusion more convincing.

Each time I walked the deck, I would notice something new. The biggest question was "how did he do this?" The narrative audio that would cycle through was in Dutch. I wish they would have had an English version for us to hear.

It was time for lunch and we found a cute little Italian Deli with Paninis and good coffee for Mom. The owner was lovely and her daughter spoke at least 5 languages. We learned she was once a flight attendant for Lufthansa. Back on the streets, the skies opened up and we got a good dousing of rain as we made our way back to the train station. On the train ride home, I think we all dozed off at times.

We returned to Amsterdam ahead of the rain. We had some time to get a bit cleaned up and enjoy some more Kriek Beer before heading out to meet our friends Anita and Ivo for dinner. It was so good to see them both. It had been almost 10 years since I had seen them. When I met them, they had a 1 year old, named Walt. Walt is now 11 and he has a 7 year old sister named Donna. They also had gifts from Sinter Claus for us...Marzipan iPods. We enjoyed cocktails and snacks at Anita's favorite bar. We went to dinner down the street from the bar. We all really enjoyed our meal and a great visit with friends!