Netherlands Trip Day 4 - Exploring Delft (Tuesday July 23rd, 2019)

October 13, 2019

Netherlands Trip Day 4 - Exploring Delft (Tuesday July 23rd, 2019)

Netherlands Trip Day 4 - Exploring Delft (Tuesday July 23rd, 2019)

After a long day of exploration yesterday, we were ready for another day of exploration. Today we will hit many spots in Delft. But we can't start out day without another hearty breakfast. We sat at the dining area of Hotel de Emauspoort to enjoy our Dutch breakfast which included young and old cheese, freshly baked bread, eggs with tomato, Dutch pancake, and spread of various kinds. It was a quiet Tuesday morning and the temperature was unusually high for The Netherlands. There wasn't a could in the sky. We would think we were in California. In the next few days, we would encounter a rare heat wave in this area of Europe.

We plan to explore the Delftware company - Heinen Delfts Blauw, then explore the historic town center including the Nieuwe Kerk, Vermeer Centrum, and maybe another canal tour. We then plan to head back to Den Haag to catch the parliament tour in the afternoon and have dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant - "The Little V".

7:00 am, Delft

Freshly baked bread

Croissant

Homemade bread

De Ruijter sprinkle, one of our favorite items from this trip

Fresh juice and milk

Cheese and cold cut

Eggs and tomato

Spread of various kinds

Muesli and cereal

Antique decoration displayed at an area that connects two old buildings

GG giving us a tour of the buffet line

MM got started quickly

Dutch pancake came out a bit later

Tuesday morning in Delft

Welkom!

Mother enjoying the morning coffee

Delftware paper placemat

We set our after 9:00 am to retrieve our car and take the short drive to north of town to Heinen Delfts Blauw. On the way to the parking garage, we stopped by to drop off laundry. While we waited for the laundry store to open, we encountered an older American man waiting for the laundry store to open. He was traveling Europe with his son, who is only in elementary school. They had been traveling for weeks now since he seems to be already retired. He seems to be intrigued that other Americans have ventured to this little Dutch town. We will encounter him later this evening.

We picked up our car and drive through the narrow and winding streets of Delft to get to the Heinen Delft Blauw. The factory gives free tour to educate people about Delftware but also in hope that tourists will purchase a few items.

We were kindly greeted by an elderly lady who gave us a nice presentation about the history of Heinen Delft Blauw and the process of making Delftware. We then toured the office where workers paint the pottery. We were finally led to the show room and we did end up purchasing a pair of small Delftware clogs.

A flower shop with colorful flowers next to the laundry store

Not tulip season but the flowers still are colorful

Various bouquets

Heinen Delft factory just north of town

Entrance to the pottery

Sign upon entry

The friendly elderly lady giving us the introduction

The mold used for Delftware, we learned that the mold has limited life

The kiln used for curing the pottery

A large piece waiting to be cured

The elderly lady showing us the coloring process

A half colored plate

The area where the potteries are being painted, each painter has his/her signature style so each pottery is unique

A painter hard at work, dress code is casual

A younger painter at work

No air conditioning provided

We ended our tour in the show room

A big piece in the show room

Another intricate piece from the show room

Beautiful tiles covering the factory wall

After purchasing a pair of Delftware clogs we headed back to town. It was about almost 11:00 am when we parked our car and walked to the town square. We decided that our lunch will be gelato so we headed to the local gelato shop right in the center of the town square. After enjoying some gelato and people watching, we headed to Vermeer Centrum, a museum dedicated to the life and work of Johannes Vermeer. It was a multiple storied museum located on the street where Vermeer lived and worked. The replica of his work was nicely displayed and it also had a very interactive area that show cased how his studio might have been. After the visiting Vermeer Centrum, we purchased tickets to visit the Nieuwe Kerk and the church tower which were two separate tickets. Mother sat out for the church tower climb and waited for us at the nave of the cathedral.

Gelato for lunch

Mango and raspberry for MM as usual

A mixed flavor from Otelli, the local Gelateria

At Vermeer Centrum in front of the View of Delft replica

Mother posing as the "The Milk Maid". We will see this painting in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

A replica for the Milk Maid's milk jar

A modern interpretation of the Girl with the Pearl Earring

The paint jars

The Nieuwe Kerk Tower, first constructed in 1496. It stands at 108.75 meters tall. It is the second tallest cathedral tower in the Netherlands.

Inside the beautiful Nave of the catheral viewed from the alter (east)

Making our way up the 100 meter tower

Reaching the elaborate chime mechanism inside the tower

The historical chime

Looking up the tower from mid tier

Reaching the mid tier

Looking south at the Maria van Jesse Church

Looking west toward the town square

A monochromatic take of the Nave looking east

Mid tier spires with strong Gothic feel

View of the canal looking north

Reaching the top tier

Looking at the spire from the top tier

Town square viewed from top tier

After reaching the top tier, we took a few photos and descended quickly. We would get uncomfortably close to others who would pass by through the narrow stairway. We met up with mother at the Nave and we found a sandwich place at the north side of the town for our second lunch.

Lineage of the Dutch royalty. The Mausoleum of William the Orange "Father of the Fatherland" is interred here along with many other Dutch royalties.

Inside a large clog on the way to our lunch spot

Wooden tulips

Colorful clogs line the street

Mid day view of the Leaning tower of Oude Kerk

Some ornately decorated doors

At Stads-Koffyhuis, we got a coupon from the church tour ticket

Fanta, a European classic invented by an American

Burger time!

After enjoying a late second lunch, we caught the canal tour at 3:00 pm. The temperature was well over 90F at that time. While the canal tour was nice we felt we were being cooked in the glass top boat.

Catching the 3:00 canal tour in 90 F heat

Cruising by the Oude Kerk

Armamentarium Ordinum of Hollandia & Westfrisia

One of the narrowest buildings in town

Photo with our canal tour skipper, a local college student

After the canal tour, which lasted for fifty minutes, we were quite burned up from the heat. We picked up our laundry and dropped it off at our room then headed to den Haag for dinner. By then we had already missed the parliament tour and we had called to cancel. The tour office was very nice and told us that we could pick up our refund at the ticketing office.

Back at den Haag to pick up our tour ticket refund

Finally got to taste the Haring, chopped and served with onion and pickle in Amsterdam style. The locals eat it by the tail.

Fried fish

Haring

Lots of action in the kitchen

Back in Chinatown den Haag

Bikes line the street of den Haag

Being a local kid at the park by our dinner spot "The Little V"

Freshly squeezed juice at Little V

Watermelon juice

Our table in action at Little V

Dinner after a long day

After dinner, GG and I had to walk to the den Haag main station to exchange some euro. After getting some cash we headed back to Delft. Joanne and I managed to do another walk after dinner to walk off the calories a bit. I took some more shots of the Delft moat and gate and reluctantly called it a night at our attic bedroom with no air conditioning.

Den Haag HS - main station, we walked by many "coffee shops" on the way there

Canal view in den Haag

Sunset at the Plein

Back to our hotel at about 8:30pm. We tried to use the hotel bikes but it was too large for MM. We encountered the older American person from the laundromat this morning and his young son here at the hotel courtyard.