After our trip to Kiruna, we went to X:Den
Haag and X:Delft, the Netherlands,
with Karen's parents. Den Haag is right on the Dutch coast, and,
even though it was January, our kids had a great time playing in the
sand, building sand castles, and the like. Our hotel was right on
the beach - and the beach wasn't exactly crowded this time of year!
Right on the beach was a sculpture museum, with an outdoor area - which
the kids loved! It was scenes of lots of giants doing things to
little people - this one here had sat down on the guard rail, and the
railing was all bent where he sat down - it was quite cleverly done.
This was right next to an aquarium where we had a great view of
some rays and other fish - we could literally reach out and touch the
rays!
Our final stop in Den Haag was the X:Mauritshuis,
an art museum holding several of Vermeer's paintings, several works by
Carel Fabritius (a former student of Rubens who is becoming quite well
known on his own now) and some other well known works. Funnily
enough, even though Delft is Vermeer's hometown, none of his works are
currently located in Delft! After the success of the movie/book
"The Girl with a Pearl Earring" Delft is now trying to raise enough
money to purchase a painting by their most famous son...
Finally, while in Delft itself, we visited the X:Porceleyne Fles, one of only two
remaining businesses which still produce authentic, hand made, Delft
pottery. Of course, we couldn't leave without some...
