I was very keen to visit the Mauritshuis Museum in Den Haag to see two particular paintings; Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer and The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. I found out about both paintings through the eponymous novels by Tracy Chevalier and Donna Tartt. I very much enjoyed both books so wanted to see the paintings which inspired them. I loved both paintings, they were both so life-like and beautiful, and I enjoyed lots of the other Dutch Golden Age paintings. Highlights that spring to mind include Jan Steen's raucous family party in "As the old sing, so pipe the young" which is meant to give the moral message that a bad example leads to bad conduct but the painting is too much fun to be a grim warning. Also I liked Abercamp's Ice Scene which was full of activity and fun. I think that the genius lies in the details of all of these paintings, like the expression on a child's face, the light on a piece of jewellery, the texture of the paint on the bird's wing. The museum itself is a lovely old house near the parliament buildings, so after our visit we walked around the centre of the city in the warm sunshine, looking at fountains, palaces, churches and having lunch in a picturesque square.
Our next destination was the university town of Leiden. Several friends had recommended it to Heather and it is on the same train line as Den Haag so off we went. It's a vibrant, attractive town with a long history of textiles and publishing. It has a beautiful old quarter with miles of canals which cross cross the town as well as an outer canal. The Old Rhine river is part of the canal system too. We took a canal tour which was a great way to see the sights in comfort; lots of old buildings and parks and very low bridges! There were lots of boats filled with people enjoying the sunshine, and the banks of the canals had lots of open air cafés and restaurants; Leiden has a great atmosphere. We had drinks on the canal side then a delicious dinner in a pescatarian restaurant before hopping back on the train to Amsterdam.
It has been an absolutely fantastic day and it also happens to be Ewan's birthday - we were delighted to celebrate it with him and Heather.
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