Saturday, February 10, 2007

A day trip to Delft


So this post should have been written about my day trip to Amsterdam ... unfortunately, my procrastinating ways caused me to miss the deadline to sign up for that trip, so I ended up making my own day excursion. Luckily, there were two other people on my floor that had a similar situation. Diana from Toronto, and Roberto from Brazil completed this small tour group.

This would be my first time using the Dutch transit system without the language expertise of Florence (who was staying home sick today). I sort of became the unoffical lead on the trip because of my minimum knowledge of Dutch and my trusty Holland guidebook. With my new Dutch debit card I purchased the train tickets from the machine at the Tilburg West train station and just over an hour later we were in Delft after a brief transfer in Breda.

We decided to go to Delft because I had heard from the other Cheryl that this was the town where the famous Delft blue porcelin originated from. After some excellent use of the tour guide map and directional instincts inherited from my dad, we ended up at 'de Porceleyne Fles' (Porcelin Jar) where we did a tour of the actual facotry where this famous delftware was and still is made. In the museum, there was this amazing full scale recreation of Rembrant's Night Watch which was made up of 480 handpainted tiles. It was interesting to learn that the design only becomes blue after the black ink is heated in the kiln for the second time. I was able to find some very nice souveniors for two certain sisters of mine at the gift shop.

Although the weather was typically Dutch, we didn't let it spoil our day and actually had a really gorgeous walk to the town's centrum. We enjoyed all the interesting front gardens in people's homes and I even saw one of the "lego" trees Florence had described to me. The main centrum still possesses a lot of the 17th century arcitecture with tall old buildings lining the bridged canal streets. On our way to see two famous old churches we stumbled upon Delft's Saturday market. It was so cool to browse all the fresh items - fish, candies, breads, cheeses and flowers of all kinds. I picked up some droppies at the droopie stand. I have a big order to fill for relatives back home. We sat down in a nice cafe to have some expresso and I was able to stutteringly converse with the waitress in Dutch.

We took some great shots of the old town hall and the Niewve Kerk before heading over to the Oude Kerk. It was very cool to see a building that was over 800 years old. The spire at the top of the church actually leans a fair bit to the left. Right outside the church courtyard we walked into a blues festival where it seemed that everyone over 45 in Delft was hanging out. After having een biertje we made our walk back to the train station to end off a very good day in Delft. In fact, I didn't really feel like going to Amsterdam anyway... yeah... this was my plan all along! Amsterdam will be done in the spring when the weather will make for a nicer tour. For now, Delft was an excellent detour of plans. Feeling a new confidence about finding my way around Holland, I look forward to discovering more parts of this great country! Me in front of the "New Church", by new they mean only 500 years old.

5 comments:

Mom said...

Hi Cheryl - We would like the gigantic cookie jar for a souvenir, please! I'm so proud of you for conducting your own mini-tour. You'll be a pro by the time Dad and I arrive.

howie said...

hey cheryl sounds like un talk to you soon
love howie

howie said...

fun

Anonymous said...

heya girl - lookin forward to many of our own day trips!! Wehoooo - I will let you know about all my information for my arrival in the wonderous world of The Netherlands in a day or so....

LOVE LORETTA the world traveller soon on her way to YOU

Shawn said...

Hi Cheryl!
Who says procrastinating doesn't work! From one procrastinator to another...well done! We love your blogs and can't wait for the next adventure.
Love, Aunt Caroline