(Delft, The Netherlands)

I’m back in the Netherlands for the first time since my post-university backpacking adventure in 1991.  After meeting my wife at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, we caught a train directly to Delft.  I visited it a few times before with my family but this was the first time I went there by train and without any expert family guidance.

Our first impressions were not great, as the railway station  is in the middle of extensive and messy renovations.  However, once we made our way into the old city, I remembered why this was such a popular destination.

The massive market square (a small part of which is shown at the top of this post) is an impressive gathering place that somehow reminded me a bit of Piazza San Marco in Venice.  This isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem:  Delft, like many other Dutch cities, is filled with canals.

At one end of the Markt is the large Stadhuis (“City Hall”), while the other end features the massive Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”).  “New” is a relative term:  the first stone was laid in 1393.   We saw the Mausoleum of William of Orange (considered the “father of the Netherlands”) as well as the entrance to the crypts of the Dutch royal family.  We also learned something new:  in the middle ages, the local elite were often buried underneath the floors of the churches.  As the bodies decomposed, an unpleasant odor often emerged.  This is apparently how the phrase “stinking rich” originated.

Nearby is the Oude Kerk (“Old Church” – there was a stone church here in 1050, with a rebuild starting in 1240) where we saw the gravestone of Dutch master painter Johannes (“Jan”) Vermeer.  There is a “Jan Vermeer” in our family tree who lived in Delft at the same time as the famous artist, so it is quite possible that I am a very distant descendant. Just in case, I took a picture of the gravestone.   The Oude Kerk also contains Delft’s very own leaning tower:  there is an unplanned 2 metre overhang.  It’s quite apparent when you look at the steeple from the canal on the north side.

We also visited one of the manufacturing facilities for the famous Delft Blue pottery.  Given how much time is required to hand-paint these items, it is not surprising that the authentic ones cost so much more than the cheap reproductions. We didn’t buy any this time but we now appreciate what is involved.

In addition to some necessary shopping (I’ve now fully replenished my losses from the baggage incident), we went to the botanical gardens of the Technical University of Delft.  While there, we were able to play an odd sculpture/music trivia game that had been set up in the gardens.  We faltered on the Dutch songs but were able to get most of the Anglo-American ones.

For dinner, we went to an Indonesian restaurant just behind the Nieuwe Kerk.  I had the first rijsttafel of the trip and enjoyed it very much.  So much, in fact, that I had eaten half of it before I remembered that I should be taking a picture of this colourful meal.  Well, this just gives me an excuse to have rijsttafel again soon!  Speaking of Indonesian food, I can’t believe how inexpensive items like atjar tjampoer and sambal manis are in the grocery stores.  I’m used to paying “import” prices for these foods at specialty stores in Canada.

In general, we are quickly becoming accustomed to life in the Netherlands.  One has to be very careful though, even in pedestrian zones, because of the huge number of bicycles and the very high speeds at which people ride.  We also are doing quite well at deciphering written Dutch, but our attempts to speak it generally come out as German.  After functioning in French in France and either French or German in Luxembourg, it’s a challenge working with a 4th language in less than a week!