Days in the Netherlands

Posted on by Alex Slotty

The last few weeks I have been quite busy with my new job. But now I finally found the time to wrap our last trip. We only had 2 days available leaving Bremen until we had to catch our flight, so some good planning was required to make most out of our short trip. Luckily for us the Lights Festival was currently happening again, which is always great to check out.

In our last post I left off with us being on the train from Bremen to Amsterdam. One funny story I can tell from that ride was when I was getting some lunch from the train bistro. I told JJ I would quickly get something to eat for us. Well, it took a lot longer than expected because apparently their microwave only works when the train is moving. Anyway, JJ was getting more and more concerned that I was not coming back and started to think I got off the train or something. So she started packing all her things, ready to get off at the next stop. Luckily her sense preserved and she didn't follow through. I was quite suprised to see her almost in tears when I came back. Happy Ending :)

Amsterdam

We arrived in the Afternoon at the main train station, check in at our hotel shortly after and the went out to get dinner at a German restaurant (JJ was a bit sad that we didn't get to eat at one when we were in Germany).

Now that it was dark we went to see the Lights Festival. This year it was actually split up in two parts: The classic boat tour and a walking part. We didn't walk too much this day, so we decided to start with it.

Glasshouse
A glasshouse shining in a green color. The light reacted to noise, so you could watch people scream in front of it.
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
The Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam beautifully lit up at night
Light Sculpture
A sculpture resembeling a nest. Colors were changing over time

Den Haag

The next day we went with train to Den Haag to fulfill one of JJs wishes to see her favourite painting with her own eyes. The painting is the famouse Girl with the Pearl Earring by 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painting has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902.

View over the Hofvijver
View over the Hofvijver on the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis on the left
Mauritshuis Entrance
Getting closer...
Girl with Pearlring
There she is!

Of course there are many more great paintings in their collection, so a visit is highly recommended.

Right around the corner of the Mauritshuis is the museum Escher in Het Paleis, which has it's whole collection dedicated to M.C. Escher

Chandeliers
In the rooms of the museum are fifteen chandeliers made by the Rotterdam artist, Hans van Bentem. The artist designed these especially for the museum, with some references to the work of Escher and the Palace
Escher
Hand with Reflecting Sphere, Lithograph from 1935
Street
Exploring the small streets in the downtown core

Amsterdam again

When we arrived back in Amsterdam we were just in time to hop on a boat to explore the canals for the Lights Festival. Here are some impressions:

Houses
2-Dimensional Houses that looked 3-D in the right angle. Very fitting coming from the Escher exhibition
Net
In our opinion the highlight of the tour, sadly hard to make out from the photo. It's a huge net spanned over the canal. Very impressive sight and great with the light reflecting on it

That's it, hope you enjoyed our little story

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