Famous things (and people) in The Hague

Yesterday we spent a very fun day in The Hague with our friends Baher and Carla. Jim and Baher worked together on a special engineering project in the late 80's, and have kept in touch ever since. We met them at their comfortable home in The Hague, and had coffee and then lunch while we all caught up.
Then we took the bus to the center of The Hague to visit the famous Mauritshuis museum. I haven't been there since probably 1995 or so, and I was delighted to see it again. There was a great special exhibit going on called 'Leven in de Brouwerij' (Life in the Brewery) with paintings by Jan Steen.
The Mauritshuis' own collection is also full of treasures: self-portraits and other works by Rembrandt, a painting of Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's wife No. 3) by Hans Holbein, church interiors by Saenredam, the famous view of Delft by Vermeer, paintings by Frans Hals, and more. We had a really enjoyable time!
The museum closed at 5 PM, and we stepped out a few minutes before 5. As we did so, we saw 3 official-looking vehicles drive by and stop a few doors down. Carla said 'There's the Queen!' and we took of at a run to get a good look!
I lived in this country for 7 years, and never saw Queen Beatrix in person. I visit The Hague for 8 hours on a random day while on vacation, and there she is. Too funny! She is famous for her very elegant hats.
It's actually not so odd to run into the Queen in The Hague. The royal family lives there, after all, and it is the seat of the Dutch government. The Queen is the official head of the government, but her role is largely symbolic.
After that exciting interlude, we walked around some very charming neighborhoods, then Baher and Carla took us to Chinatown for a delicious dinner! For a Monday night, that place was hopping! We had marvelous jasmine tea, soup with shrimp dumplings, and a very yummy vegetable stir fry with tofu. (I've been eating a lot of fish on this trip, and I was happy to see tofu again!) :-)
Then we walked back to the train station, and they saw us off. It was very fun to spend the day visiting friends!
And I'm about to do more of that- in a few minutes I will set off for Amsterdam, where I am having lunch with two good friends that I studied musicology with at the Univ. of Amsterdam, who I haven't seen since 1999!