When you visit The Hague, it is customary to visit the Mauritshuis to see masterpieces like ‘the Girl with the Pearl Earring’ (Vermeer) and ‘the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’ (Rembrandt)….and also to see ‘the Peace Palace’….incorporating the Court of Arbitration, the UN International Court of Justice and the Hague Academy of International Law….but the queues were incredible at both, so I decided ‘smaller fish needed to be fried’.

I’ve always loved M. C. Escher from the day I came across a book of his art in my 20’s. So took the opportunity to visit a museum of over 100 of his works. The museum is located in the Lange Voorhout Palace, which used to be a royal residence, and as you explore it, you get to enjoy the beautiful rooms and learn about the palace’s history. Escher was born in 1898, was a sickly child, struggled in all school subjects except art, and failed his high school exams. He studied graphic art under the kindly tutorship of Samuel de Mesquita (who appreciated his talents and was very encouraging) at Haarlem’s School of Architecture and graduated in 1922.

One of the most striking aspects of Escher’s work is his use of perspective as a metaphor for perception, and recurring themes of eternity, infinity, time and space. I loved his landscape phase, particularly during his sojourn in Italy in the 1920’s and the beginning of his tesselation motifs in the 1930’s, after encountering the mosaics of the Alhambra in Granada.

In his graphic art, he portrayed mathematical relationships among shapes, figures, and space. Integrated into his prints were mirror images of cones, spheres, cubes, rings, and spirals. I really enjoyed my visit here.

Next cultural visit, to the Panorama Mesdag in The Hague – the largest circular canvas in Europe (14 metres x 120 metres). You have a 360º view of a magical optical illusion created by this panorama of Scheveningen from 1881. The view is never the same; the incidence of light changes from moment to moment. The building that incorporates this panorama was constructed specially for the painting. In the centre of the building, an artificial dune has been created on a roundabout. From a viewpoint above the dune, visitors see the same panorama as if they were standing on the Seinpost dune levelled off in 1881. Its pretty amazing. (Thanks to the Panorama Mesdag for the next image).

The vista of the North sea, dunes and old fishermen’s village Scheveningen was painted by H.W. Mesdag,  a famous painter of the Hague School. He specialised in painting seascapes.
His wife Sientje Mesdag-van-Houten and painters Theophile de Bock, George Hendrik Breitner and Bernard Bloomers also made a significant contribution.

Stopped off at El Bar, a delightful tapas place and thoroughly enjoyed these very yummy tostadas.

I start a new day with plans to explore Rotterdam and I decide to challenge myself to use public transport – walked from my hotel to catch bus no. 60 to Delft station; then transferred to the intercity train to Rotterdam Blaack. Goodness me, the carriages were full to capacity at 8.50 on a Sunday, standing room only. Something was up…discovered it was a marathon in Rotterdam that was starting at 10am.  The NN Marathon Rotterdam is an annual, world-renowned marathon held in Rotterdam, recognized as one of the fastest and most popular in the world. Held annually since 1981 in April, it features a flat course, iconic scenery like the Erasmus Bridge, and attracts over 17,000 runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators.

As I emerged from the station, not only did I see marathon runners limbering up, but also the incredible Cube house architectural landmark designed by Piet Blom that revealed itself in all its glory…waahh! Designed in the 1980s, the houses are tilted 45 degrees, intended to resemble trees forming a forest, with each cube representing a tree. These are functional residential units, though some are used as a hostel and one operates as a museum house. They are constructed on top of a pedestrian bridge and support pillars, offering an unconventional living experience with tilted walls. 

I then worked out which metro line to catch to visit ‘Westersingel’ – a walk along the edge of a canal that features sculptures …and found a great little cafe ‘Served’, which had the best coffee. Had a lovely surprise…as a rather large goose came in for a landing on the water. Just managed to open the camera to get a passable shot.

Next to Witte de Withstraat, by the no.8 tram, Rotterdam’s hippest and liveliest cultural entertainment street. It features many art galleries, popular cafes, restaurants, and shops that are just a little bit different.

After about 4 hours of ‘farnarkling about’…hopped on the intercity train to The Hague, changed at Kurhaus station to the no.1 tram, for a 45 minute journey back to Delft train station, boarded the no. 60 bus back to the stop close to my hotel. Well done me, proud PT geek that I am 🙂

Off to Eindhoven tomorrow…woo hoo!