Let's Get This Party Started!

Well, I'm writing this a couple of days later than I'd hoped to. Staying awake long enough to get anything done after a day "out" has proved to be challenging. Slowly, I think I'm getting on top of things. Hydration seems to be the biggest thing.

Friday was Den Haag day. We visited the Haags Maarkt and the Mauritshuis museum.

Markets are always fun, even if  we don't buy anything. There's just something about an outdoor market that makes whatever is on sale just a little more interesting. I marvel at the logistics of breaking down a booth each night, only to set it up the next morning. It seems challenging even if it's a "permanent" market like Den Haag. I hate to think about the challenges for vendors who move from town-to-town.

Waiting for the metro from the Ypenburg P+R. What a gorgeous day! Purchasing the ticket from the kiosk proved easy since it recognized our Chip & Pin debit card.

Some shots from the market. Can you smell the herring?

Lunch wasn't herring - we opted for "Broodjes" from one of the vendors.

 

I had to  take the last shot  just because the booth was named "Mandy".

On our way to the Mauritshuis, we stopped in at a "Le Place" restaurant on the top floor of a department store. You just can't beat the rooftop views in Europe.

 
The Mauritshuis museum was pretty cool. It's amazing to think that these paintings are 300-400 years old and were so incredibly executed as well as holding up for so long. It's interesting to see how big some works are (or aren't) compared to what you think when you just see the image.

"The Girl With the Pearl Earring" gets lots of attention, but it is surprisingly small.

The frame is bigger than the painting! The stories about this painting are also bigger than life. There is lots of speculation about who she is and her relatonship to Vermeer, but it turns out that the painting is a "tronie" - a work designed to show the artist's abilities to create a particular look - and not a painting of a real girl at all.

 

This is probably my favorite painting from the museum: Vermeer's "View of Delft". There's all sorts of games that have been played with the elements of this painting to make it look quite real. It's pretty amazing to see in person.