Delft, Vermeer, and Rotterdam, oh my!
Well, I'm honestly not entirely sure what I've been up to since I last left you all, but I'll try to give a fair update. Actually, most of what I've been up to has been interesting, but picture-less. :-) Last week I spent a couple of days hanging out at the house, and Hans, Marette, and I went out to Chinese food on Monday which was a lot of fun, but not the Indonesian food I'm really looking forward to trying! I'm actually starting to lose track of days, I think, which may be a problem when I get to the end of things and have to be places!
On Tuesday, I went downtown and visited the Mauritshuis and the Hague History Museum. Sorry everyone, they don't allow pictures, but I did get these of the government building. Pretty impressive, huh?
I did get to finally see "Girl with a Pearl Earring" though and I was amazed at how small it was compared to the surrounding paintings. It's still amazing to look at though. And the Mauritshuis had some wonderful artwork, of course, and I was happy to have an English audioguide so that I could actually get some real information on what I was admiring!
This picture takes a little bit of explaining. The walkway is to cross the water in front of the government building to the Mauritshuis, but the shoes were an installment for the day by Greenpeace. There were shoes all over the city, especially the government buildings, demonstrating over 500,000 wishes for worldwide green energy solutions. The shoes each have a carrot (for reindeer) and a wish to Sinterklaas in them, and I thought it was kind of cool.
On Wednesday, I went with Hans and Marette to visit Mira (Marette's second daughter) in Bergen and we also paid a brief visit to Marette's first husband Ton in Alkmaar. The weather was truly horrible (thunder, heavy rain, heavy wind) so I didn't think to take out my camera, but both villages were really cute. This is where Marette's children grew up, so it was interesting to relate it to some of her stories, too.
Finally, on Friday, I went to Delft! I spent pretty much my whole day exploring the Botanical Gardens (after spending over an hour walking back and forth in front of them, trying to find them!) and then on to the Vermeer Centrum, which was a museum dedicated to his life, style of painting, and interpreting the symbols within his work. It was very interesting. The center is actually in his old guildhouse, not his house as I had thought. And it turns out to be very easy to get to Delft by tram, so I'll definitely be paying another visit.
The entrance to the Botanical Gardens and a couple of my favorite pictures from my time inside. The greenhouses were really interesting and I had a lot of fun walking around. It was a beautiful day when I went in, but already raining when I was on my way out. Not so different from Oregon, there. I thought it was interesting that these gardens are part of the Natural Science and Technology division of the University of Delft, they're generally studied to see how they can be used in BioTechnology.
Do not adjust your screen! That's a view of one of the canals to the leaning tower of the Oude Kerk (Old Church). Apparently, Dutch soil is so soft that many of the old churches, if not supported correctly, began to lean and this is one of them. Actually, this seems to be the most famous of them, but I'm not really sure why.
I did get a few more pictures, but I'll wait to share them until my next Delft post. On Thursday, which I forgot to mention, I finally went to a meeting of CouchSurfers and so started meeting people my own age. With any luck, I'll actually even get to hang out with some of them!
Then this weekend was filled with a little shopping and a number of concerts. I went with Hans and Marette to hear Marette's old choir, which was very good. It was a bit hard for me though, since much of the music was in Dutch and I couldn't quite follow. Yesterday evening, we also went to a music concert with recorders, a harpsichord, violas, cello, bass, and flute. A couple of those songs also had a Tenor singing, which was wonderful. I think I enjoyed the music better because I understood it. Also, watching the hands as the musicians played reminded me of when I used to watch Grandma's hands at the piano and I teared up a bit. I loved it though, the music was excellent!
I spent a fair portion of today working out my various pictures and getting things labeled and stored appropriately, but I also got to look at some of the old picture books and see pictures of my great-great-great grandparents! That's been fun, if occasionally tiring.
I'm not really sure what I'm up to this week, except another art museum on Wednesday with a group Marette paints with and then to Rotterdam for the weekend on Friday, where I'm joining in a HUGE (over 200 people) CouchSurfers Sinterklaas party. I'll be sure to keep you all updated and try to get some good pictures!
Last, but not least, a picture of Grete, who sleeps on my bed and helps me feel better when I'm missing my kitties back home. She loves taking advantage of the fact that I let her in the room she's usually not allowed in. :-)
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! And Happy Birthday, Allie!
On Tuesday, I went downtown and visited the Mauritshuis and the Hague History Museum. Sorry everyone, they don't allow pictures, but I did get these of the government building. Pretty impressive, huh?
I did get to finally see "Girl with a Pearl Earring" though and I was amazed at how small it was compared to the surrounding paintings. It's still amazing to look at though. And the Mauritshuis had some wonderful artwork, of course, and I was happy to have an English audioguide so that I could actually get some real information on what I was admiring!
This picture takes a little bit of explaining. The walkway is to cross the water in front of the government building to the Mauritshuis, but the shoes were an installment for the day by Greenpeace. There were shoes all over the city, especially the government buildings, demonstrating over 500,000 wishes for worldwide green energy solutions. The shoes each have a carrot (for reindeer) and a wish to Sinterklaas in them, and I thought it was kind of cool.
On Wednesday, I went with Hans and Marette to visit Mira (Marette's second daughter) in Bergen and we also paid a brief visit to Marette's first husband Ton in Alkmaar. The weather was truly horrible (thunder, heavy rain, heavy wind) so I didn't think to take out my camera, but both villages were really cute. This is where Marette's children grew up, so it was interesting to relate it to some of her stories, too.
Finally, on Friday, I went to Delft! I spent pretty much my whole day exploring the Botanical Gardens (after spending over an hour walking back and forth in front of them, trying to find them!) and then on to the Vermeer Centrum, which was a museum dedicated to his life, style of painting, and interpreting the symbols within his work. It was very interesting. The center is actually in his old guildhouse, not his house as I had thought. And it turns out to be very easy to get to Delft by tram, so I'll definitely be paying another visit.
The entrance to the Botanical Gardens and a couple of my favorite pictures from my time inside. The greenhouses were really interesting and I had a lot of fun walking around. It was a beautiful day when I went in, but already raining when I was on my way out. Not so different from Oregon, there. I thought it was interesting that these gardens are part of the Natural Science and Technology division of the University of Delft, they're generally studied to see how they can be used in BioTechnology.
Do not adjust your screen! That's a view of one of the canals to the leaning tower of the Oude Kerk (Old Church). Apparently, Dutch soil is so soft that many of the old churches, if not supported correctly, began to lean and this is one of them. Actually, this seems to be the most famous of them, but I'm not really sure why.
I did get a few more pictures, but I'll wait to share them until my next Delft post. On Thursday, which I forgot to mention, I finally went to a meeting of CouchSurfers and so started meeting people my own age. With any luck, I'll actually even get to hang out with some of them!
Then this weekend was filled with a little shopping and a number of concerts. I went with Hans and Marette to hear Marette's old choir, which was very good. It was a bit hard for me though, since much of the music was in Dutch and I couldn't quite follow. Yesterday evening, we also went to a music concert with recorders, a harpsichord, violas, cello, bass, and flute. A couple of those songs also had a Tenor singing, which was wonderful. I think I enjoyed the music better because I understood it. Also, watching the hands as the musicians played reminded me of when I used to watch Grandma's hands at the piano and I teared up a bit. I loved it though, the music was excellent!
I spent a fair portion of today working out my various pictures and getting things labeled and stored appropriately, but I also got to look at some of the old picture books and see pictures of my great-great-great grandparents! That's been fun, if occasionally tiring.
I'm not really sure what I'm up to this week, except another art museum on Wednesday with a group Marette paints with and then to Rotterdam for the weekend on Friday, where I'm joining in a HUGE (over 200 people) CouchSurfers Sinterklaas party. I'll be sure to keep you all updated and try to get some good pictures!
Last, but not least, a picture of Grete, who sleeps on my bed and helps me feel better when I'm missing my kitties back home. She loves taking advantage of the fact that I let her in the room she's usually not allowed in. :-)
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! And Happy Birthday, Allie!