Netherlands Part II

My niece Hannah took ballet lessons in/at The Hague. I'm still confused by that city name with the "The" in front of it. We took her over there on Saturday and then went to an art museum. It was called the Maritshuis. I think it was mainly a portrait gallery. It had The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Everybody was crowded around that one. Hard to get a good look. And I actually liked the one on the opposite side of the room a lot better. 

Here were a few other paintings that caught my eye.

I am definitely in favor of always saying to oneself, "I have to do the dishes/exercise/fold laundry/watch kids/hold this sword. Could I also be reading a book right now?"

So many flowers! Painting after painting just like this. I liked them! So many details and colors loveliness.

This painting was huge! And famous...can't remember why. I liked that the cow was looking at me. Very realistic.

The Hague is the political center of the Netherlands. These were some of the government buildings and flags, surrounded by water like most everything else in the Netherlands. It was also in The Hague that I rescued a toy that a little girl dropped off the back of a bike, and she said, "Dankjewel." She was cute.

In the middle of all of our traipsing about, we'd hang out at Abbie's house. The dogs were always happy to see us. Here they are, Bobo and Benji. It was nice to have them come sit by you. Lots of people have dogs in the Netherlands. Abbie said Dutch dogs are very well-trained and often not on leashes. There were also lots of kids and lots of kids on the backs and fronts of bikes with their parents driving.

Sunday we went to church and saw a family from Round Rock! My friend was friends with them, and I'd seen them around our church building, but I thought the chances were pretty low that I'd run into them. But there is only one English-speaking ward in the area, so actually the chances were pretty high. And the weird thing was I had a Chinese class at BYU with the husband in the family. Small world, right? I took some pics just trying to catch the Dunnings doing their church thing.

There were seven Chinese speakers in Relief Society! The teacher was a Taiwanese girl in the Netherlands for school. She gave an awesome lesson that was even awesome-er because she had to speak in simple English. I admire people willing to speak a non-native language. It is really scary. Anyway, being there with all those Chinese speakers really inspired me to study Chinese more diligently. And I have been on a crazy Chinese kick ever since I got home. My family is getting sick of me.

Ice cream comes in tubes and is very delicious. Dutch cows must be happy.

There are lots of house boats in the canals of Amsterdam. 

Dutch pancakes with mango and yogurt. So yummy!

The pancake house had a cat wandering around freely. Just not something you'd see in the US. 

A shop window. Delftware and fake Delftware are very popular. I love it. Reminds me of my mom's blue willow dishes. 

In Amsterdam, Abbie and I went to another museum, the Rijksmuseum. Lots of famous paintings there. The Dutch are really into sailing and boats, surprise, surprise. 

Dream library!! This was inside of the Rijksmuseum.

A dollhouse

No object is safe from the possibility of being turned Delft blue:

Outside the Rijksmuseum waiting for our tram.

Bikes for days!

On Saturday, we also got to watch Hannah and Victoria play volleyball with their school team. They were playing against other American and international schools. 

And we got to celebrate Abbie's birthday. There haven't been too many years where we've been together on one of our birthdays. 

And we actually did go to Delft and see the Delftware factory which was very cool. Each piece is handmade. A small Delftware vase could easily be $500. A set of Delftware dishes costs as much as a Ferrari. Needless to say, we bought the knock-off stuff.

Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" in...you guessed it...Delft Blue!!

Delft was a really quaint little town. We saw a couple of churches and climbed a spire.

I believe this deceased person was William of Orange. 

Appeltaart...so yummy! And in restaurants, they really crowd in the tables. You're sitting elbow to elbow with strangers. 

This made me laugh. Get your picture taken as the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Do they get lots of Canadian tourists, ehh??

So that was my trip to the Netherlands! I had the best time. I'm so, so glad I went. I had some really good conversations with Abbie and James which you can't take a picture of but was one of the best parts of the trip.