For her, for him
Delft, Netherlands was our destination today because it's the lifelong home of artist Johannes Vermeer. It's also home to Delft pottery (below) ...
-- but when I saw the prices, well, let's put it this way: don't anybody expect a piece of blue heaven when I come home!
I liked how street lamps in one park are in the Delft style (below). The Mister said that if Hershey, Pennsylvania can have chocolate kisses as their street lamps, Delft should be able to have this.
Delft is a charming town (how many times have I used that phrase on my blog?!?) with canals including some that are used -- and not for tour boats.
We went to the Vermeer Center (below).
I already knew that this place has no Vermeer paintings in it, but I wanted to see it anyway. Regrettably, nowhere in Delft are there any Vermeer paintings -- most were auctioned off shortly after his death. But the center does have have reproductions in their actual sizes, and it was nice to see all Vermeer's "works" together.
Some of the displays were interesting but I hate to say it: the best thing about this center was the gift shop! A good thing I had low expectations of the place before I went, thanks to reviews on TripAdvisor.
Earl and I did have fun finding a scene that was captured by Vermeer in a painting. I had bought a folder in the gift shop with this painting on the cover (below). Someone in Delft had painted the woman sweeper on the door to help us identify where Vermeer had painted it. That's me in the photo below holding up the folder.
So it was a tremendous kick to be in Vermeer's hometown. I'm such a groupie. But then it was time for my gift to Earl! Beep beep!
The other day when we were driving out of The Hague I saw this statue (below) sitting way back off the road ...
... and I saw this sign (below) on the building.
I figured the museum had something to do with cars so I looked it up on the internet. Louwman Museum is a private collection of cars and that's where we headed after Delft today. It was incredible! Want to see 216 photos of the collection of cars they have there? Me neither -- but here are some, if you're interested (below) ...
The architecture of the 8-year old building was impressive ... and the displays were so inventive, undoubtedly made by people who love cars.
Look at this Aston-Martin from a James Bond movie (below). Not only does the museum own it, they show you the billboard for the movie, a wall-sized scene from the movie, every detail you could want -- and a video running showing you how the car appears in the movie!
One more cool thing about the Louwman: they have an underground parking garage for visitors. BUT! If you car is 40 years or older, you can park in the small courtyard (below) in front of the building. This courtyard becomes an ever-changing display of great cars and the owners love showing off their cars (I talked to one of them.) Isn't that a clever idea!
When vacationing, you can do all your research to pick the places that you want to see, but sometimes a memorable experience starts with seeing a statue with a steering wheel.
Thanks for reading my blog. Beep beep!
Jane
-- but when I saw the prices, well, let's put it this way: don't anybody expect a piece of blue heaven when I come home!
I liked how street lamps in one park are in the Delft style (below). The Mister said that if Hershey, Pennsylvania can have chocolate kisses as their street lamps, Delft should be able to have this.
Delft is a charming town (how many times have I used that phrase on my blog?!?) with canals including some that are used -- and not for tour boats.
We went to the Vermeer Center (below).
Some of the displays were interesting but I hate to say it: the best thing about this center was the gift shop! A good thing I had low expectations of the place before I went, thanks to reviews on TripAdvisor.
Earl and I did have fun finding a scene that was captured by Vermeer in a painting. I had bought a folder in the gift shop with this painting on the cover (below). Someone in Delft had painted the woman sweeper on the door to help us identify where Vermeer had painted it. That's me in the photo below holding up the folder.
So it was a tremendous kick to be in Vermeer's hometown. I'm such a groupie. But then it was time for my gift to Earl! Beep beep!
The other day when we were driving out of The Hague I saw this statue (below) sitting way back off the road ...
... and I saw this sign (below) on the building.
I figured the museum had something to do with cars so I looked it up on the internet. Louwman Museum is a private collection of cars and that's where we headed after Delft today. It was incredible! Want to see 216 photos of the collection of cars they have there? Me neither -- but here are some, if you're interested (below) ...
Look at this Aston-Martin from a James Bond movie (below). Not only does the museum own it, they show you the billboard for the movie, a wall-sized scene from the movie, every detail you could want -- and a video running showing you how the car appears in the movie!
One more cool thing about the Louwman: they have an underground parking garage for visitors. BUT! If you car is 40 years or older, you can park in the small courtyard (below) in front of the building. This courtyard becomes an ever-changing display of great cars and the owners love showing off their cars (I talked to one of them.) Isn't that a clever idea!
When vacationing, you can do all your research to pick the places that you want to see, but sometimes a memorable experience starts with seeing a statue with a steering wheel.
Thanks for reading my blog. Beep beep!
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