Thursday, April 21, 2022

DELFT - A FEAST FOR THE EYES AND THE TUMMY

A  trip into Delft today filled our time.  It was a reasonably quick trip with the train and took us right to downtown.  Delft is the location of the factory for the Delft hand painted blue and white pottery and also home to the famous artist, Johannes Vermeer.  Arriving by train into the little city, it was only a short walk into the centre.  It was so beautiful with the old town hall at one end of the big square and the New Church at the other.  The new church is 700 years old.  The old Church dates back to 1050.  So I guess in fact the new church is newer…but really! 


The old Church has been given a nickname of “Skewed John” as the 75 meter tower is leaning about two meters from the vertical.  We were told by a local that the tower is checked every two years and is actually quite stable and safe from falling.  Both these churches are very visible landmarks in this small city.

We had an enjoyable day just wandering around the old city and eating some wonderful waffles with fruit and whipped cream for lunch.  There were several stores selling Delft pottery at huge prices.  I managed to find one small piece that I needed to buy.  We went in many shops and poked around.  We ambled around the city up and down the streets just taking in the local sites.

We found the most amazing cheese shop!  They had samples of their cheeses and I am sure there were at least 40 or more flavours and types. We sampled most of them if not all.  They had goat, sheep and cow cheeses of various ages and tastes.  We had to buy some to bring home.   I was wishing they had some smaller sizes so we could bring back a few more flavours.  We are allowed to bring home 20 kg –we were certainly well within our limit.  Our backpacks were now heavy with our cheese purchases and it was time to find our way home.  Back on the train…through Rotterdam Central and home to our home away from home near the Rotterdam Noord Station.


1 comment:

Brother Brian said...

What a super day! Here - not so much!

My experience with a ‘Skewed John’ involved a small facility in a public campsite with my students. One little fellow who was not very Delft dropped his flashlight down the hole as he was hitching up his pants. Not a huge issue in itself as they are not that expensive but unfortunately it was ON! This meant that none of my female students would use the facility and I had to walk them out to another group campsite that had a flush toilet. I had hoped the flashlight would die but those Energizers do last many hours before they give up and even a small glow from a dying duo was enought to spook the maidens. I was disturbed every two hours or so. Sigh!

'Nuff about what obviously refers back to what appears to be a tilted tower - Gentlemen I give you the Skewed John of Delft!

Now there is a phrase bound to confuse.

Hugs!