They traveled on July 14 to Rotterdam and registered at the Victoria Hotel. Sam was impressed. by the countryside, “so green & lovely, & quiet & pastoral & homelike,’ and, as usual, by the “very pretty & fresh & amiable & intelligent” Dutch damsels. ‘The next day they railed fifty miles to Amsterdam, where they spent two nights at the Hotel Doelen. Sam delighted in Rembrande’s paintings in the Rijksmuseum, especially The Night Watch, and Livy bought “a beautiful etching” of it for twenty dollars to hang in the Hartford house.
Netherlands Tramp: Day By Day
July 14 Monday – Sam took the family aboard the Trenton and breakfasted.
“Admiral Rowan arrived during the meal. I smoked on the Admiral’s side of the deck, not knowing it was sacred by naval etiquette” [MTNJ 2: 328].
July 15 Tuesday – The Clemens family left Rotterdam in the afternoon and went to Amsterdam, where they took rooms at the Hotel Doelen. From Sam’s notebook:
July 16 Wednesday – The Clemens family saw the sights in Amsterdam.
July 17 and 18 Friday – The Clemens family left Amsterdam in the afternoon and went to The Hague, “stopping off 2 or 3 hours at Harlaam & visiting farm house, dairy, & beautiful country seat.”
Livy wrote about the farm to her mother on July 20, mentioning young Fraulein Korthals:
July 19 Saturday – The Clemens family left The Hague at 6 PM For Flushing. In the late evening they crossed the channel by night boat (see July 20 entry). [MTNJ 2: 331, 333].