Amsterdam. 4/16/1996

Today our guests’ tour takes us to see the Vermeer exhibition at the Mauritshuis. It is very crowded but absolutely wonderful. I am sad that John will not be able to enjoy this. We get headphones for explanations. I like every painting. Vermeer has always been a favorite of mine. We buy postcards, a hard bound book, a keychain and a t-shirt with a picture of the The Young Woman with a Pearl Earring (for Sarah.) Next there is a walking tour of The Hague, followed by a terrible Dutch lunch.

This is the title page from the book we bought at the exhibition. There were over 30 of Vermeer’s paintings. It was truly wonderful.

Sarah and I argue about what to do next. She doesn’t want the lunch, her feet hurt, and Mary Spicer and others are leaving the tour for shopping.  I know what a voracious shopper Mary Spicer is and I am afraid Sarah will be very unhappy going with that group.  Perhaps we should just exit the tour and go back to the hotel but I hate to miss something that might be interesting.

So we yell at each other and are grumpy the rest of the afternoon. We see a short tour of the Delft factory (another buying opportunity) and havwe a walking tour of Delft. Then we sit in traffic for 2 hours getting back to Amsterdam. This does not improve either of our moods.

Delft Blue Pottery Factory

Tonight is the social evening. I have been to several of these before and they are often fairly tasteless. But tonight is not as lewd as usual. There are arcades and bumper cars, ice skating, and all sorts of food. There are lots of people and noise. We stay until 10:30PM. Sarah comments that it would have been more fun with people her own age.

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