Old Provincial Government Hall

We started the day at home playing games and waiting for the weather to improve. It was gray, windy and cold.

Around 1 pm we headed in to Leeuwarden to go to the prison where they were having a crafts show. Each cell in the bottom two levels of the jail has a crafts person inside offering their wares for sale. We enjoyed looking and talking to the vendors.

Next we went to see an exhibit by four photographers of pictures of the Modern Sea. They were wonderful and I had a long talk with one of the photographers.

Next we went to the jail museum and met Stefan Kraan, a man who had been in prison there for a year in the 1970s as a political protestor against going to war. There was an exhibit of his writings and pictures of him in the prison.

After that we went to an open house at the Provincial Government Building. There are two old buildings that have been the seat of the Provincial Government for a very long time. They needed to expand and decided to build a new building around the two existing buildings. They built halls between and a huge additional building for all of the activities of the provincial government of Friesland. They also completely restored this beautiful old hall. A local artist rebuilt the stained glass windows and restored the paintings on the ceiling. We had a fabulous time exploring the old parts and the new building which is huge.

When we left the rains had come. We got soaked walking back to the camper. It was lovely to get home to a warm house and a yummy dinner. It was a good end to other great day.