Traveling in Europe Part IV: The Hague

I pushed to add The Hague to our travels for two reasons; one, because it is the International Court of Justice and two, it has the Escher Museum. I. suspected that Hannah would really enjoy the works of M.C. Escher, especially because it is housed in a palace.

By this time we had become pretty good at hopping on to buses and trams, and our hotel was very near a tram that could take us everywhere we wanted to go. 

The Escher Museum was a lot of fun. The top floor had all sorts of interesting things to help one understand the way he might have interpreted the world.

Don't ask me how this works, but we were all in the same little space!

The other museum in The Hague that I sort of coerced the others to go to was the Kunst Museum. 

I really wanted to see the work of Piet Mondrian. Like many other modern painters, he started out painting more realistic work before he began what he is most famous for, geometric shapes using three primary colors. He influenced other painters, starting the De Stijl art movement in the Netherlands. That led to modern furniture, entire room designs and more.

So while I was enjoying the paintings on the main floor, Mike and Hannah discovered the basement. They called me and said I had to come see this place. And, boy, was it a hit for Hannah. 

There is a huge painting that you are invited to touch.

More fun is a bright yellow labyrinth with mirrors, seating and mysterious art. One could really get lost there.

The very best part for Hannah was the wardrobe provided in a spectacular mirrored area with beautiful lighting. She loved being royalty. 

If you look carefully, you can see me taking the photo left of Mike and Hannah.

This was definitely the highlight of The Hague for a 13-year-old. 

We were only 4 miles away from the North Sea, so it seemed crazy to not hop the tram and go take a look. That's where the crowds were, not in the museums

.

The North Sea beach and huge hotels.

It was surprisingly cold and windy, so we sat on an enclosed pier to watch the ocean. We couldn't believe people were swimming because we had been shivering while on the shore.

I will end this blog with a picture of the Peace Palace. This was built in 1913, funded by Andrew Carnegie. It was intended to bring peace to the world and end all wars. Now it is the seat of the United Nations International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. And wars? Unfortunately it did not bring an end to wars. 

Next stop, Amsterdam!

Traveling in Europe Part III: An Hour Train Ride to Bruges

Traveling in Northern Europe makes one think of size and population comparisons. Oregon is about 9 times the size of Belgium and the country has about 3 times as many people. As we traveled by train from Brussels to Bruges, the landscape was agriculture and towns. Lovely but flat and developed.

Bruges is known as a Fairy Tale Town because of it's Medieval architecture and the beautiful canals. We were just outside the Medieval part of town and Hannah and I joined a woman being filmed dancing outside this gate. Are we now somewhere on TikTok or Youtube?

photo borrowed from Google

Mike had memories of his first Christmas away from home in Bruges. In the winter of 1969 he experienced a quiet snowy town, quite different 55 years later in the touristy summer.

Like Brussels, Bruges has a Grand Place and was founded in  the 9th Century by Danish Vikings. The buildings I was in awe of. were built around the 1700s.

There are surprising spots to escape the crowds inside the city. We found walks around the canals and into the woodsy areas peaceful and quiet.

Flowers are abundant throughout areas along the canals.

Here are some photos from our visit to the Groening Museum.

You can climb on into this mini greenhouse.

Hannah pondering the meaning of this piece of art.

A princessy sort of photo.

And here we enjoyed the tastes that Belgium is well known for: Chocolate and Belgium Waffles.

And yes, they do make the best waffles in Belgium!

And for those over 21 . . .

Traveling in Europe Part II: On to Brussels

 

For 3 weeks we traveled over 500 miles by train. We used Uber a handful of times, rode buses, and walked, and walked. and walked. We mostly stayed in VRBOs and airbnbs, with a hotel or two along the way.

In Brussels, we stayed within walking distance of the Grand Place--the historic center of the city. The building of Brussels began in the 1100's and has been burned and bombed over the centuries. It is a spectacular medieval space surrounded by gilded buildings unlike anything you'd see in the US. The time to really see it in it's glory is at night when the buildings are lit up.

Of course we had to visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, which is about a 15 minute walk from the Grand Place. The entrance of the Museum wowed us immediately with huge paintings by Constant Montald, an artist I'd not heard of before.

That was the only free part, then we had to decide which of the exhibitions we wanted to visit. We chose the Imagine! exhibit which features surrealism. We saw art that is interesting, sometimes gross, and makes one wonder what it is about.

Here are a few more photos taken in Brussels.

Belgium Waffles are the Bomb!

Tin Tin is still popular in Brussels.

Brussels roof tops.

Which way do we go?

We must go on. Next stop, Bruges.

A Month of Travel-Part I

 

After 10 hours of flight from Miami to Heathrow, Hannah and I await our first dinner in London.

Why from Miami? Mike and I flew from Oregon to Florida to pick up our youngest granddaughter for her "Teen Trip." There is nothing better to learn about a 13-year-old than to take her on a trip without parents and siblings. 

There is much to see and do in London, but we only had 3 full days there before hopping on a train to Brussels. The highlights of that first stop were, moving from our first hotel room (a dump) to a nice hotel (more expensive), seeing the musical "Frozen" in the Royal Theater of London (Disney knows how to put on a show), visiting the Tower of London and All Hallows-by-the-Tower founded in 675 A.D. Mike was especially thrilled to stand in the church where Samuel Pepys (famous for his diary) watched London burn in 1666. One thing that I kept being reminded of throughout this trip is how young a our nation is.

We did have a brief visit to the British Museum, but it was packed with tourists and we all got a bit claustrophobic. One great thing about England is that most museums have no entry fee. 

Below I will include some photos from my photos of London Part I.

Hannah at the entrance of the Royal Theater of London to see "Frozen."

All Hallows-by-the-Tower 

The interior of All Hallows-by-the-Tower.

On to the sight of prison, torture and death. Most famously 

was Anne Boleyn" beheading in the courtyard of the 

castle. There was another story of a young prince and his brother who were there before the older one's coronation. They mysteriously disappeared, but never fear, there was their uncle ready to step in as king!

Hannah entering the Tower of London

We were reminded of the wealth of the Royals by viewing the Crown Jewels. And then there was the history of hangings and torture (Yikes! the rack) and the final execution there in 1941 of a German spy. 

Mike does enjoy Beefeaters Gin!

If this fellow had information, he wasn't sharing.

We would return to London later and would stay in a different London borough. Stay tuned for our next stop Brussels.

On the train ready to travel under the English Channel to Belgium.