Side Trips To The Hague And Utrecht

Saturday morning after breakfast at our hotel, the lovely Banks Mansion, we took a train to Holland's capital, The Hague. At the high quality Mauritshuis Museum we saw some of the country's greatest art works including several Rembrandts; the most famous painting by this master in the museum is "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp," which brought the artist early fame. Another gem is "Saul And David," (see photo below.) Carl Fabritius' "Goldfinch" inspired a long novel, and the most famous painting by Vermeer in the Hague, "Girl With Pearl Earring" inspired both a fine novel and film. Two other Vermeers in the museum are outstanding; his "View Of Delft" is his extraordinary landscape. There are also masterpieces by many others, including Jan Steen's moral lesson "As The Old Sing, So Pipe The Young." After a good lunch in the museum's brasserie, we took a train to Utrecht. There we visited the Dutch National Railway Museum, seeing all sorts of old and remarkable trains. After touring the Catherine Convent Museum of Medieval Art, we walked to the center of Utrecht. This is a fascinating city with many old houses on side streets, a large Gothic Cathedral (closed currently,) and a leading Dutch University. The train to Amsterdam brought us back to the hotel for a respite before dinner at a French restaurant, Le Lion Noir. - Dan