Blogs from Delft, South Holland, Netherlands, Europe
July 13th 2011
This blog will just go through the little time we spent in Scheidam and Delft (famous for their delftware china) on Monday (still on no sleep). Our trip to Scheidam was strictly to see the windmills there, after all what would a trip to the Netherlands be without seeing some windmills. Apparently, the windmills are used to help pump water out, due to the fact that most the country is below sea level. There isn't much to be said, for a windmill is a windmill. However, there are several small bridges that cross the canals throughout this country, and we found one that oddly enough is hand cranked up by two men. After letting the boat pass, they get on their bike/ scooter and make their way to the next bridge to allow the vessel to ... read more
April 21st 2011
Ok my final day in holland. I decided to go to delft. Beautiful small town situated on canals. Definately the right choice between it and the Hague. Anyway I didn't actually get to delft till about 2ish. I had things to sort re my coach ticket for later that day. Anyway... I went to both the old and new churches in delft. I climbed the tower in the new church. The highest balcony thing that you could walk around was exceedingly high. The lorry that was passing below looked like a toy. In the new church I saw the tomb of William of Orange as the entire Orange family with a couple of exceptions are buried in delfts new church. All very interesting. I then wandered around the markets for a bit. The main one in ... read more
June 20th 2010
Sunday continues to be cool and windy but I soldier on. After a hearty breakfast, we tram it south to Delft (c.1075) known for its weaving and brewing industries. This pretty town is very picturesque with many canals and a central Markt square. It is also known for its blue and white hand-painted earthenware; an idea the Dutch “borrowed” from trading in Chinese porcelain. We specifically wanted to visit the Johannes Vermeer museum (sited in the building where the painters' guild of his day met). After lunch, we walked around the Markt square and then headed back to the north-bound tram station. Back in Den Haag, we walk to the Madurodam from our hotel. The Madurodam depicts the Netherlands in miniature (1:25 scale ) by replicating historically significant buildings and regions. It opened in 1952 by ... read more
June 6th 2010
We have continued in Delft over the weekend which turned rainy on Sunday afternoon so will take a few minutes to write while sitting in the RV with the door open to enjoy the fresh air and watch it rain. Friday was our longest biking day so far about 25-30 miles. The route was 24 miles, but we took several wrong turns and had to backtrack so added extra miles. One nice thing about the NL - because it is all level backtracking isn't really bothersome. We biked from Delft to Hoek von Holland. It is a small town at the mouth of the waterway from Rotterdam into the North Sea and the port for the ferry we will take to England. Thought it would be a pleasant day's ride and give us the opportunity to ... read more
March 7th 2010
Alright, welcome to my first (travel) blog ever! Isn't it exciting? Well to me it's not, actually. The only reason I started this entry is to get rid of that NEW status, which bothers me for some reason. But I had to start writing someday anyhow, so why not now. In about 4 months I will start the biggest trip of my life, so far, to Thailand. I have been to places, visited countries and cities, but never have I wandered around in a foreign country on a foreign continent for a month all by myself. So I'm pretty excited about that, because I know this will be the first of many to follow. It's like stepping into a new era and into the footsteps of all the people who have done this before me. I ... read more
May 29th 2009
All the china and porcelain I didn't buy We had a great day trip, first to a rose garden (as my sister is an avid gardner) and then to the charming city of Delft. It is located in between Rotterdam and The Hague, about 45 minutes from my sister's house in Rockanje. Delft is primarily known for its typically Dutch town centre; also for the painter Vermeer and of course, the famous Delft Blue pottery (Delftware). Delftware, or Delft pottery, denotes blue and white pottery made only in and around Delft in the Netherlands. It is a type of pottery in which a white glaze is applied, usually decorated with metal oxides. Delftware includes pottery objects of all descriptions such as plates, ornaments and tiles. This is a long winded way to say it's very pretty ... read more
May 3rd 2009
Opet kecom, samo na drugu stranu... Da vidimo ono sto je Vermer pre koliko godina... Ocekujemo jezerce, ali njega nema. Docekuju nas minijature. Mali kanal, jos manji mostic, pa ogroman trg. I na njemu katedrala. Kraljevski mauzolej sa tornjem na vrhu. I prelep pogled na ceo grad. Bogata istorijska prica pretocena u zidine. Pijaca antikviteta u ulicici pored. Najlepsi nacin da se provede jedno prepodne.... read more
April 28th 2009
Hi All Another amazing day. Today we tip-toed through the tulips..hundreds of different displays. They only show for @6 weeks from end of March to mid May. The place swarms with people from all over the world - lots of euros here!! It rained on and off and we were freezing at times. Enjoyed a hot chocolate and warm Dutch waffle topped with cream and chocolate sauce. Some illegal photo opportunities in the farmers field and we headed for Delft. Delft is one of the oldest towns in Holland. It has 2 huge churches where the royal family are buried when they die. The first is about 500 years old and it was leaning and fears were that it was falling down so they built another a few hundred years ago. The first one never fell ... read more
Some krokets in Delft then onto the Binnenhof in Den Haag
Published: March 1st 2009Europe » Netherlands » South Holland » Delft
November 4th 2008
On the November 3, I took dad to the Van Gogh museum, in Amsterdam. November 4, we made a visit to Delft and Den Haag. Delft is famous for the Delftware, you know that blue and white porcelain. Its the pottery that was duplicated from Chinese porcelain from 17th century artisans. Anyways can you believe Delft was founded in 1100? That's like 700 years before Australia was founded by white settlers. It was rich from weaving trade in the 13th and 14th centuries, but was overtaken as a main port by Rotterdam in the 15th century after a canal was dug to the Maas river. Anyway I made dad come and visit a Delft factory, Aardewerkatelier de Candelaer, where they were unfortunately in their lunch break so we couldn't see any work in action other than ... read more
