The Ridderzaal, Den Haag

AW and I spent a few tourist-hours in The Hague today!  I only had to pay for one ticket -- our VIP lottery card meant that AW could go in for free.  Specifically, we went to the Mauritshuis ('Maawritshouse'), former house of Prince Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, who used to be governor of Dutch territory in Brazil and who, unfortunately, was heavily involved with the slave trade.  While it was his house, it was not his collection.  That honour belongs to King William I.  He was not William the Silent, Founder of the Fatherland, who was not a king.  William the Silent's great-grandson was 'the' William who married Mary Stuart, daughter of James I (of England) and VI (of Scotland).  The Dutch King William I was the son of William V, last stadholder of the Low Countries, and he didn't come to the throne till after Napoleon was defeated.  He was a great(x5)-grandson of William the Silent.  The William connection is the reason why our current King Willem-Alexander also has a claim to the British throne.  This claim is very distant and will most likely disappear in time, especially as I sincerely doubt our royal house is interested in pursuing it, besides the fact that there are already several that have more rights to that position.  We have our own house, and country, to keep in order.

Anyway, this is the Ridderzaal, or Knights' Hall, where our 'State of the Nation' or, in our case, 'State of the Kingdom' speeches are held.  Due to COVID regulations, it didn't take place here last year, and won't this year either.  Due to renovations, as well, tourists aren't allowed in right now.  This is also where our coronations take place, the last one being that of our current sovereign when his mother, Beatrix, abdicated in 2013.

Extra 1 = our parliamentary buildings, where several faulty government decisions are made (we had a good laugh about that), but due to the huge renovation project being undertaken at the moment, maybe half of these buildings are unoccupied right now.
Extra 2 = the upper floor of the Mauritshuis, where one can find some really fabulous Rembrandts, Paulus Potters, Jan Steens, as well as at least two famous Vermeers, including the Girl with a Pearl Earring, which I posted here years ago.

Beautiful weather and no traffic.  Our time slot was 12.00, and I think we were done around 13.00 or a little past.  When we got back, AW left for his appointment with Gubs, and old friend, the one who needs AW's diploma to expand his business, which was the reason for the appointment.  Later in the afternoon, got a call from Randstad about a new opening, from another university in town, and it sounded like something down my street, so I will be 'introduced' there tomorrow and they'll try to set up an appointment again.  Anyway, after post-processing, I finished the final week of the Zoroastrian lectures, an interesting digression about Avestan, the Parsi language used in the time of Cyrus and Alexander the Great.  AW had a bridge-free evening (Marie not feeling well) and I returned later to my Burgundians.

Tomorrow, an important appointment at the GP's regarding some pain I occasionally feel in the area of my left breast.  There is no lump, and the pain is very sporadic, like maybe once a month, but felt it again earlier this week and now I would like to have it checked.  I haven't thought about it much, but now that I'm actually going to have it looked at, I'm experiencing some anxiety.  Having no blood kin, there is no 'family history' that could give me any clue, so I am very curious as well.