The Hague

Off to Dan Haag. (I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize that Dan Haag is The Hague until being in the city for a few hours.)

I found the city to be one of the friendliest places that I have visited – ever! Shortly after checking into our hotel K and I had lunch as a café called Cloors. We both had opened faced sandwiches on what the waitress called brown bread, but to us looked almost salmon colored. Then K was off to some meetings and I set out to explore on my own. Among my discoveries, observations, and questions in Dan Haas were:
• Hollandaise sauce…Holland-daise? Is this where is comes from?
• Why is Holland called The Netherlands? Why are people from The Netherlands (a.k.a Holland) known as the Dutch? And why are the people from The Netherlands are called Dutch, but Germany – in German – is called Deutschland?
• I love the Apple Options store in the Pavilion in the main shopping district. I went in to buy a new, European adapter for my computer and they showed me that the plug from my charger was removable and could be replaced with a European 220 volt plug. Then they gave me the plug that I needed. The owner simple said that when I return to the U.S. I should give them the plug back, which they would then give to someone else in need of an adapter. I’ll have to look up their address so I can send the plug back that end of my two years. I love the idea that it’s just on load.
• I went to the M.C. Escher Museum. Though the entry fee was listed as 6.50 Euros they only charged 5 Euros since I was entering toward the end of the day. I originally decided to go to this museum since it was within walking distance of our hotel. But, in retrospect, I was very happy to have made this decision. Small museums dedicated to a singe artist often provide an in depth overview of their work, their mission, and the progression of work over time. Prior to go to this museum I didn’t really like Escher. I thought of his prints as the stuff of college boy’s dorm walls. Although I knew that he was a print maker, I never really full appreciated that his actually carved his pieces and printed them. Also, I was interested in how Moroccan tile work influenced his art. (That Islam forbids creating figurative images was very interesting to me.)

We had a luck luster dinner in Dan Haag, but the funny and charming waiter made up for the restaurant’s short fallings.