As I’ve said previously, inspiration for travel can be found in many places. One of my favorite ways to gain a bit of insight is watching movies. Sometimes it’s the setting of the film or where they chose to shoot it, but other times the content can pique interest as well. The first movie that I’d like to highlight takes from all three of these.

Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth star in this fictional narrative surrounding the painting of the same name by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Set in 17^th century Holland, it gives an imagined account of how this famous portrait came to be.

Portions of the film were shot on location in Delft, Holland, which is the birthplace of Johannes Vermeer and also where he spent the majority of his life. Often called a typically Dutch town with its border of canals, the modern city makes for many inviting stops with a cheap car rental in the Netherlands.

Just north of Delft you can find The Hague, where you can find a relatively unchanged city center full of architecture dating back to the 16^th century. It is also the home to Mauritshuis, an art gallery that contains painting from famous Dutch artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter and of course Johannes Vermeer. It’s here that you can view for yourself Girl With a Pearl Earring, and wonder just who this ‘Dutch Mona Lisa’ really was.

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