Lovely day today. I had gone to bed last night feeling slightly under the weather, and when I woke up I knew I wasn't great, but after a shower and a delicious breakfast of French toast, fruit salad, and tea, I was ready to face the day. Lauran took me to the American Protestant Church in The Hague this morning. The drive over was quite pretty, with the gleaming snow and old windmills off in the distance every once in a while. The service was also nice; it was traditional, and the songs were well-chosen. It was wonderful to sing, though my voice wasn't completely up to par, what with my cold and everything. Still, I haven't really sung since I arrived in Europe - I don't feel very comfortable singing around the people in my house, and there's nowhere else I can sing. Anyway, everyone was friendly, there was tea after worship (which made my throat happy, especially after the singing), and I was glad I could worship in my own language, though I realize I shouldn't stay my comfort zone all the time.
After church, Lauran and I went to the Mauritshuis, an art museum with a focus on Dutch and Flemish painters from the 17th century. Apart from the all the still life and landscapes, it is the home of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, among others. Once again I find myself very grateful to have worked in the art history department for the past two-and-a-half years; I've learned so much. Who knew all that cataloging would come in so useful? Also useful was the art history survey I took credit/no credit back in first year (incidentally, both famous pieces from the Mauritshuis were in my textbook), which really taught me a lot about the specific movements and their defining characteristics. I've now been to four art museums during my time in Europe, but I think this was my favorite visit so far, not least because Lauran is a great art museum companion (no rushing, we both appreciate religious art, etc.) The Mauritshuis is a small museum, so we were able to go through relatively quickly. I bought a Girl with a Pearl Earring magnet for my collection (I'm going to have an awesome refrigerator when I get back to Virginia), and then we went on our way.
Once we left The Hague, Lauran took me to meet her friend Inga and her family. They live in an authentic 18th (or maybe even 17th) century Dutch farmhouse, which is partially renovated to suit their needs, but still has an amazing amount of the original woodwork and structure (and also happens to be right next to the Rhine). We spent the rest of the afternoon with them, talking about their upcoming trip to the States, my travel misadventures, and just Dutch/European life in general. Lauran brought the leftover soup from Friday, so we had that for dinner, with some wonderful warm, flaky bread. Inga also made some chicken that smelled heavenly, but I stayed true to my vegetarianism and had a lot of shredded lettuce instead. It was a great meal. Inga and her family are very nice, and after we had all eaten, she and one of her sons performed two songs for us, she on piano and he singing. We said good-bye shortly afterward and then went to drop in on Lauran's friend Jan, who is a television producer and very well known in the Dutch Christian community for hosting the Dutch Hour of Power worship broadcast on Sundays. Both he and his house were very nice.
We drove back to Hoofddorp, where I finished my Batten application (just need my recommendations to come in) and then curled up on the sofa in one of Lauran's extra blankets to watch the news. She made tea and we chatted off and on while she worked. Just before midnight she turned on the Super Bowl, which is broadcast in the Netherlands on BBC1. As I discovered, they don't show the commercials here; instead, they cut straight from the game to the BBC Sport desk and sometimes explain tricky plays. Since the commercials are easily the most interesting part of the Super Bowl for me, I decided to turn in early(ish) - well, that, and I'm sort of rooting for the Patriots but don't really care about football, and things were not going well for them, a least at the time I excused myself. Plus, I have to catch a train at 9:30 tomorrow, and I really don't want a repeat performance of Friday.
I have had a fabulous weekend in the Netherlands, and am thinking that I'll come back in April when my mom is in Europe; Lauran wants us to be here for tulip season. I've had such a good time that I think we'll have to take her up on that. Well, back to France tomorrow!
