Den Haag, Squatters Restaurant, and ASOT 500

Last Thursday Kelly and I took a day trip to Den Haag where the Dutch government is located. We wandered through the shopping district before checking out the Binnenhof, which is the location where the original city castle stood. Today it has been incorporated into the building where Parliament meets.

Views from inside the courtyard.

View from outside the courtyard.

After exploring the Binnenhof, we headed to the Escher museum which is housed in the former Winter Palace of Queen Emma who ruled from 1858-1934. Before coming the the Netherlands I had not realized M.C. Escher was Dutch. It was very interesting to see how his work progressed over his lifetime. He was quite the traveler, and it was cool to see how he incorporated the places he had been into his work. The coolest part of the museum was the third floor where they had hands-on optical illusions inspired by Escher's work, as well as a movie that showed 3D renderings of many of his more famous "impossible" drawings in action. 

My favorite piece was his "Metamorphosis II" which was too long to take a picture of, so instead I took a video of it. 

Another interesting thing at the museum were the fun shaped chandeliers hanging in each room, as well as bug shaped light fixtures.

We finished up the day by walking over to the current Royal Palace, which was quite bland and uninteresting architecturally. However, there was a beautiful park behind it with all sorts of interesting public sculpture. This is one thing I have noticed about the Dutch. They love their public sculpture. It is prevalent everywhere.

This weekend one of Kelly's roommates from home was visiting, so we decided to try something new and went out to dinner at one of the squatters restaurants in Amsterdam. The one we went to was called Einde van de Wereld and is on a converted houseboat. The atmosphere was friendly and cozy, and the food was delicious. The way these restaurants work is members of the restaurant alternate nights cooking. There are only one or two meals to choose from, and prices are generally 7-8 Euros a plate. We did learn that it is best to show up early, or else you might not be able to get a seat and eat. Fortunately it was warm enough to eat on the deck. (photos below not taken by me)

Saturday I met up with a friend from home and showed them around Amsterdam a bit before preparing for A State of Trance 500 (think Energy Part 2). Other than the train ride there and back, it was another indescribably amazing experience. I don't understand why this kind of event is not more popular in America. What should have been a one hour train ride each way, turned into a three hour train ride each way due to railroad work. We left at 7:30PM Saturday night, and didn't get back until almost noon on Sunday. Now that is a LONG night out. Needless to say I am still catching up on sleep. No pics this time because I forgot to charge my camera battery.