Leiden and Delft

We also went to the smaller tows of Leiden and Delft, outside of Den Haag.

Leiden is a small but attractive university town that straddles the Rhine as it meanders through Holland. The river is split into a "Y" in town, with the center of town coinciding with the convergence. The University of Ledien is very old, having been established in 1575 by William I of Orange. It has been home to a number of famous Dutch artists and scientists both ancient and contemporarty. Rembrandt was born and went to school here (note his surname: van Rijn "of the Rhine"), painter Jan Steen was born here, as was Willebrord Snellius, of "Snells Law" fame- another important optics theorem you owe thanks to for everything from binoculars to fiber optic technology. Newton made great advances in optics, but the Dutch pretty much owned the field for a century leading up to him. Also, the "Leyden Jar" was invented here, shocking! (That last sentence was a double entendre. The Leyden jar was essentially the first capacitor, it stored electric charge. Hey- if Judi posts, you get wit and language. If I post you get physics, deal with it).

I also never knew until stumbling across several plaques that this is where the second Mayflower pilgrims lived before setting sail for the Americas (though they did make a a "pit stop" in England to use the bathroom on the way). There are some exiled puritans buried here who never made the second Mayflower trip, including many children, and several English language puritan churches were run here for quite some time. Several American organizations keep the graves, plaques, and American historical sites maintained. Pictures to follow, as usual.

Delft is famous for its characteristic porcelain appropriately named "Delftware". When you think of "fine China" you may think of painted blue porcelain dishes, possibly with windmills and flowers on it. That is Delftware. This is also a very nice town, and it is obvious that its main trade and claim to fame are its ceramics. The Royal ceramicists also work here, and we bought a piece from there. We wandered the town, meandered through the shops, had a great lunch, and at the end of the day we headed home.

Den Haag

This last weekend Judi and I had a rental car, so we took advantage of that and spent a few days in central Netherlands. First we spent some time in Den Haag (the Hague), which is the hoofdstaad of the Netherlands, I believe. In the Netherlands the capital is Amsterdam, but the government is based in Den Haag. This is of course where the international war crimes tribunal is located, among other famous international institutions.

We walked around town quite a bit, and it is a very attractive place with old churches and houses, and modern museums and shopping. We walked past many embassies under shady lanes. I wanted to park our car in the Swiss Ambassadors parking spot, where a sign reads “Parking for Swiss Ambassador Only” and snap a photo, but Judi barred me from causing an international incident. We passed the Escher museum, the big central fountain, and went inside the Oude Kerk (Old Church). It is a nice church, and I received an unexpected surprise when we ambled unexpectedly to the final resting place of Christiaan Huygens. He’s a “big name” in physics, especially optics, as well as astronomy, music, mathematics, and philosophy. He was surely one of the Netherlands greatest prodigies.

We also toured the Mauritshuis, permanent and temporary home of many of the finest pieces from the Dutch masters. Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Vermeer, and many more are well represented. Two of the most famous paintings in the building, which I shall paste below, are Rembrandts “The Anatomy Lesson”, and Vermeer’s “Girl with Pearl Earring”. In all of our tours of the museums of Northern Europe, I have developed a particular fondness for Vermeer and Jan Steen, and wonder why they don’t receive more attention.

There is a story related to Judi in this. The observer in the painting in the center, looking forward, is an ancestor of Judi's. I'll have her edit the post so she can explain it.

Later in the day we went to de Pier which means... the Pier. This pier is a sort of “double decker” pier, with glass walls creating an envelope between the two levels, so visitors can walk on top or stay sheltered inside in bad weather. Out at the ends of the pier are a cafe (poffertjes!), a multi-story restaurant, and an arcade. We had a dinner of mussels and frites, and as it turned out our server was an American born, Dutch raised sort of dual-citizen who hops back and forth between the U.S. and the Netherlands. I had to ask him where he was from, because his English was very, well, American. We walked some on the beach, caught the sunset, and even watched a red fox skate along the sands into some beach dunes that seem to be set aside as a reserve. It is a very gorgeous city.

Science and Rugby

We made on last trip into Paris this last weekend. It was actually to complete a school project, which required a visit to an informal science institution (ISI), so I planned a trip there with one of my classmates who happens to be another expatriate living in Paris. The Paris science museum is massive. It is a large three story complex, with a submarine and geodesic IMAX dome as separate structures on the grounds. It is easily the largest science center I have ever visited. There were exhibits on genetics, orchids, automobiles, energy, light, the space sciences- you name it. Two large children’s centers within the building alone were rather large. My classmate Elizabeth and I were able to get our research completed. Judi met up with us later after she did some shopping at the huge mall at the south end of Paris.

The other significant even of this trip, after our dinner in the Latin Quarter, was the rugby grudge match between France and England in the semi-finals. We were actually unaware that this rugby game was to take place in Paris, but on Saturday evening there was no question that the air was crackling with energy. Blue, white, and red face paint abounded, as did capes of the colors of France and banners of France and the team. We tried to get into a British pub to meet up with Elizabeth, but every pub was already packed and there were three times as many people in the streets as there were indoors. The streets themselves turned into a rowdy party zone. Large monitors broadcasting the game were swarmed by thousands. In most places when French icons came on the screen the crowd cheered, and when England came on the crowd jeered. The exception were the few English pubs that displayed the colors of England openly (all of the pubs were actually very clearly labeled by either a French or English false façade). I noticed the Irish pubs threw their lot in with France.

We soaked in the energy for a little while, chatted with some Brits on the street who couldn’t get in anywhere either, and eventually made our way back to the hotel where we watched the game in the hotel. I was downstairs during the latter half of the game, where a mob of South Africans, Aussies, Kiwis, and two other San Diegans were watching the game. (By sheer coincidence there were two San Diegans, separately, staying in the hotel and watching the game. We were the only Americans there). An Australian narrated and let me in on what the heck was going on. All but the one Briton in the room were cheering for the French, because they believed the English team to be thoroughly arrogant, plus well- you know how it is with former British colonies. The French narrowly lost, much to the dismay of all of the French people and team former-British-colony. It was an energetic night.

Wrapping it up in Italy

Our last few days in Italy included a thorough visit to the Uffizi Galleries, the most important museum in the country. It houses works from the "greats" of the Renaissance, including Leonardo, Raphael, Botticelli, Michaelangelo, among others. Perhaps the most famous paintings there are both of Botticelli's masterpieces: the Birth of Venus and Primavera.





We also went to the Accademia, and saw many great sculptures, including David. It really is as impressive as they say it is. We planned ahead and preordered tickets for the opening hour, and arrived early to get in line. As such, when we went in we went straight to the masteriece and had it to ourselves for a full five minutes before the room filled up.

We continued to wander the streets of Florence for the remainder of our trip, eating at various excellent restaurants, stopping into bookstores and pubs, and even toured a local grocery store to get a feel for what the locals do.

On our last day we went to Pisa, and of course saw the famous Leaning Tower. Yep, it sure does lean. Actually, the tower itself is fantastic, and one of the few Pisan towers to survive the bombing during World War II (it is said that once the city bristled with such towers). It is situated next to the Pisa Duomo. We basically saw the entire town, since the train station is on one side of the river and the tower on the other.

We headed to the Pisa airport, and hopped back onto our budget Ryan Air plane to take us back to Brussels, and miraculously we caught the last train between Brussels and Gent at somethng like 1:00.