DATE July 19th 1928
PLACE London Eng
Today is our free day & ‘K’ and I went shopping together. First we went to the Abbey & enjoyed it for the 3rd time. Then to Buckingham Palace where we saw the changing of the guards and it was very colorful. We went over on Cheap Side where I bought 2 prints & then we came back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we went to Dunhills [1] & all around then after an early dinner we caught the train to the boat. On the ‘St George’ we crossed the channel to the Hook of Holland.
DATE July 20th
PLACE Holland
We landed in Holland at 7.15 and went in buses to Le Hague and first saw the peace palace it is very beautiful and is furnished by the gifts of different nations of the world. We then went to the palace in the wood and saw the residence of Queen Wilimena. One room the Rubens Room was exceptionally beautiful. We had lunch at the ‘Terminus Hotel’ and then went thru the City of Amsterdam and took a sightseeing bus all around. Saw the National Gallery where Rembrants Night Watch hangs with his Syndics and Anatomy. This is the most beautiful exhibition of art we have seen yet. We then proceeded to the Grand Hotel [2] which is on the north sea & had dinner there & spent the night. It is a beautiful spot & very fashionable.
De Nachtwacht (1641) by Rembrandt was one of Vincent’s favourite works of art.
Vincent Price Travel Journal 1928 (reproduced courtesy of Peter Fuller)
EDITOR’S NOTES
[1] In 1927, Alfred Dunhill launched the Unique lighter, the first to be operated using just one hand. And, in 1928, Dunhill began distributing the Namiki pen company’s maki-e lacquered pens. At the time of Vincent’s visit, Dunhill was located at 30 Duke Street, St James’s SW1. The store was bombed in 1941 and renovated in the 1950s.
[2] Vincent’s tour group most probably stayed at the Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin, today a 5-star luxury hotel, on the Noordwijk beach, located 40km from the city of Amsterday, which has also been much favoured by the Dutch royal family. The hotel also houses the one star Michelin restaurant, Latour.
[sic] Although Vincent misspells words in his journal, we have kept them as he wrote them.
My First Trip Abroad | Vincent Price (July-August 1928) 