Beyond the placid old Amsterdamcanals, the bustling bike lanes and the quaint tulip fields, roils a furious debate about the future of the Netherlands.
The squad met Queen Beatrix at her palace in The Hague in the morning, followed by a boat tour through Amsterdam's canals and a party in the city's Museum Square.
In the Philips wing for instance, Gerrit Berckheyde's "The 'Golden Bend' in the Herengracht" (1671-72), a shimmering, timeless image of one of Amsterdam's principal canals and a recent acquisition, was tastelessly used as a prop in a didactic display on the history of Dutch urban development.