Aug 29 Den Haag

It's Saturday again. Plan to explore another city of the Netherlands.

Den haag was a reasonable choice. Historical, cultural, natural, and not far from Rotterdam.

It took less than twenty minutes on the train from Rotterdam Centraal to Den Haag HS(Holland Spoor). I jumped on tram9 to Scheveningen, the famous seaside resort. On the way to Scheveningen, I enjoyed the beautiful street view of Den Haag. Compared to Rotterdam, there are more trees, waters, and old buildings; less cars and people. It took about half an hour to Scheveningen. You could feel that it's a place for vacation: hotels, casino, and beach.

The Kurhaus hotel is its landmark. It looked like a palace. Behind the hotel is the beach. There are many outdoor restaurants on it. Because it's windy and cloudy, there were not many people there enjoying their brunch. I walked on the pier, the largest one in the Netherlands to feel the North Sea waves and had a different viewpoint to see Scheveningen.

Then I went to Vredespaleis (Peace Palace), where the International Court of Justice located. There were also other tourists. Because it was closed, we just took pictures outside. Outside the gate there's an "eternal peace flame." I believe that most people have the same wish: "May peace prevail on Earth", the slogan on a stick outside the gate.

I had McDonald's for lunch(simple and fast). Then I walked to "Binnenhof" and "Ridderzaal", the political center of this country. The historic buildings, plaza, and the fountain created a majestic view.

I visited Mauritshuis, an art museum next to Binnenholf. It exhibits paintings mainly from Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, and Vermeer (I don't know if Rubens can be counted in).

The most famous paintings are Vermeer's "Girl with a pearl earring"and "View on Delft", Rembrandt's "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" and his last "self-portrait." Vermeer really mastered portraying light and shadow. When I stood in front of the painting with a small distance, I felt the light and the shadow were so real. But when I stood closer, I found that the reflections on the earring were only by two brushes: one was the reflection of the light source; the other one was the reflection from her cloth. So amazing!

Rembrandt's two paintings belonged to different levels of his life. "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" was done when he was around middle-age, with fame and wealth. He portrayed every detail with delicacy. But his last self-portrait was a different style. I found an old, exhausted old man with a little sorrow. There are also other famous paintings from other painters, most of them are Dutch. Among them, I like Carel Fabritius' "The goldfinch." The composition is simple. A goldfinch with the bright yellow marking on its wing was attached by a chain. If it was hung in someone's house, it would look like a real goldfinch on the wall.

After leaving Mauritshuis, I went to the shopping street to buy my Lush shampoo and conditioner. In my opinion, I think the shopping street of Den Haag is more worth to visit. I'm sure to come back again. I finished my schedule today earlier than I expected. I took tram back to Den Haag HS, and then took train home. I came home around 6:30pm.

Den Haag is really a beautiful city.