An Afternoon of Art in The Hague...

Jimmy joined me one afternoon in July to go to the Mauritshuis to see their special exhibit: Fleeting – Scents in Color. It was quite fascinating to experience the ways in which the museum shared how odors were portrayed in 17th century art. I particularly liked View of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal by Jan van der Heyden showing the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam in 1670.

It wasn’t too crowded in the main exhibition so I was able to pose with one of my favorite paintings, Vermeer’s View of Delft, wearing my matching mask and color-coordinated top.

Too bad Jimmy hadn’t brought his mask from the Mauritshuis, a close up of the mouth from Frans Hals’ Laughing Boy.

After seeing incredible 17th century art, it was time to see new urban art. I’m not a big fan of cats, but loved the playfulness of the cats playing pranks along the Achterom near the Passage.

Even a mouse...

…and a snail got into the act.

We found these two lovely murals nearby.

 

Another July Walk...

A few days later, Carlin joined me and Ashlynn for a walk to Leidschendam. We tried a different route than usual, which led us through a lot of brambles before reaching this lovely spot...

…with Belted Galloways in the distance.

We stopped for lunch at Mimi’s next to our local farm. Ashlynn even agreed to have an egg with her avocado toast once she confirmed that the it was from the on-site farm, which we visited afterwards. 

This sign cracked me up as this area was completely fenced in so not sure how any offending dogs could possibly enter.
 

Back to the Dunes...

The following week Terri picked up me and Kati for another walk in the dunes of Wassenaar. We were surprised and excited to spot these Highland cows near the start of our route. 

We were even more excited to see that we could access the antitank wall again.

The scenery had changed a lot after the water company finished their construction projects, which included rearranging the manmade retention ponds. 

We always stop at this pond as it’s the only water stop for Kati. 

The hills were lovely with lots of yellow flowers.

This was the largest group of Highland cows that we’d seen in the dunes for several years. 
 

Long Walk in Wassenaar...

I went on several nice long walks in July, the first being with Carlin and Terri in Wassenaar. We started at the Airbnb house rental that Carlin had been staying in since their house sold. Our first stop was for tea at the outdoor café at the Voorlinden Museum.

We then headed out the back of the museum’s property through a hole under the fence into Meijendel, our region’s largest contiguous dune area. 

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch on a random dune.

We happened upon Waalsdorpervlakte, a World War II Memorial at the location where more than 250 people, including many members of the Dutch Resistance, were executed by the Nazis. 

It was a nice clear day with views down to Scheveningen Beach. 

Terri and I had a vague memory of going to a restaurant several years ago at the beach between Wassenaar and Scheveningen, but somehow didn’t realize that it was next to the nude beach...

…where we spotted this dude daring to enter the cold water.

Much more exciting was spotting this strandbeest (beach beast). For years I’ve known that artist Theo Jansen makes beasts out of PVC pipes that walk down the beach, but had never had the good fortune to see him in action. Unfortunately, I couldn't stick around until this creature went for a walk.

Later we ran into a different kind of creature...

…and a pooper scooper available on loan for those who need it. 
 

A Foodie Tour of Tijuana...

Despite nearly 30 years of socializing with Hashers, I am still continually blown away by their kindness and generosity. Case in point: Grassy, who is the GM of Tijuana H3 and someone we barely know, gave Veronica, Brett and Siena an insider’s tour of the city—the same city where Jimmy and I hosted a party for 35 guests the night before our wedding, but we’d now be too afraid to visit on our own due to increased crime. Grassy picked them up in his car after they took the tram down from Chula Vista and drove them into Mexico. Due to COVID restrictions, they technically weren’t supposed to enter the country and had a lame story prepared about going to a dentist just in case they were questioned. Their first stop was the beach to see the border wall itself, which Jimmy and I have never seen.

They were impressed with the many murals along the Mexican side of the wall in Friendship Park; apparently the other side is much more barren.

He took them to a very local taco place where they were the only gringos. Veronica said it was fun watching the tacos being cooked in the open kitchen. They were very fresh, tasty and only $1 each.

The next stop was a food hall, just like in London or Amsterdam with more touristy prices. 

The main shopping area looks much more festive than I recall. The market was already closed by the time they got there.

They also enjoyed watching churros being made by a street vendor, one that Grassy said was the best.

Then he walked them past the strip clubs, which they declined entering. In TJ the sex workers walked the streets looking for clients, which was interesting for Veronica to compare to the Netherlands. Once their tour was done, they hopped back into Grassy’s car. He had a fast pass for easy entry back into the US, but it didn’t cover passengers. So he dropped them off near the border to walk across and then picked them up on the other side and drove them back to their car. They had a great day! We hope to be able to play tour guide for Grassy someday and are extremely thankful that he didn’t sell the kids to sex traffickers. 

 

Further Adventures in San Diego...

Veronica is fascinated by the story of mine and Jimmy’s early days as a couple and had asked for a list of places we used to frequent. She and Brett enjoyed having a drink on the terrace at Casa Del Rey Moro at Balboa Park, where we enjoyed a brunch with friends and family the morning after our wedding. 

Here is Veronica’s other effort to recreate an ancient photo of me in a courtyard of Balboa Park. 

Jimmy and I once took a photography workshop at Balboa Park, so just love that Veronica and Brett are so into photography as a couple.

Incredibly, neither Jimmy nor I have any memory of ever seeing this amazing tree in the park...

…which looks like an alien landscape. 

While this charming photo might look like it was completely staged, Veronica assured me that she and Brett really do love to just plop down in random places to read. 

They also enjoyed visiting the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles...

…going on the wooden roller coaster (dating back to 1925) at Mission Beach...

…and seeing a San Diego Padres game at the stadium that also didn’t exist when we lived there. Veronica was disappointed when the Padres failed to score even a single run the whole game. 

They attempted to watch the Euro football finals at Shakespeare Pub, where Jimmy and I had dinner on our first date, but folks had been lined up since 5 a.m., so they watched the UK lose to Italy in penalty shots at a sports bar instead. 

They also missed out on going to The Waterfront, the dive bar where our first date started and where we hosted our wedding rehearsal dinner, but didn’t miss out exploring Coronado on a tandem bike. They cycled around the island, passing the base where Jimmy was stationed when we met before ending at Hotel Del Coronado.

An especially cool experience was visiting the Birch Aquarium at Scripps with Siena to see the 35-foot long mural that she had been commissioned to paint using her own photographs from diving for reference.