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Published: March 19th 2007
Willian of Orange
Statue of WoO. Behind him is the convent where he spent his last years and was murdered. Yay. I finally made it more than ten miles outside the city. This past weekend my abroad group had an excursion to the Delft and The Hague. Delft is ridiculously cute. It’s like a miniature version of Amstedam: smaller canals, smaller terraces, and smaller houses. However, the amount of churches is certainly no less. I’m pretty sure that I could see about six church spires from my point in the center square. Delf is also where they make the blue and white pottery. There are only three legitimate factories that make the pottery anymore so everything else is a fake. Check out my picture to see the insignia for the legit factories. They also have the royal church in Delft, where the bodies of the royal family are buried. There were also a lot of random modern public art instillations which was kinda cool.
The Hague was….interesting. It was a mix of modern art, industrial buildings, and old churches. It’s where the seat of government is and we got to see the former palace of the queen (Beatrix?) and where the prince lived until 2002. Her working quarters are still in The Hague and she supposedly attends church there.
Big Church
Tall. Very Tall. At both stops we enjoyed having informative tour guides and delicious hearty Dutch meals of cheese, bread, butter, jam, smoked fish, tomato soup, and bitterballen. Bitterballen are these little balls of fried meat mush. It tastes like deep fried stuffing to me. Despite looking terrible, it doesn’t taste too horrible, although I can’t imagine eating more than one….every few years. In The Hague we also had the chance to visit the Mauritshuis Museum, which houses three Vermeer paintings, including ‘Girl with the Pearl Earring’. This museum is one of my favorites. It’s in an old mansiony palace thing which is very lushly decorated. It’s a very intimate atmosphere and you are allowed to get >< that close to the paintings if you wish. I don’t know how many paintings there were, but I definitely got my fill of 16th-20th century realism. For anyone reading this who is considering going to the Netherlands…BUY THE MUSEUMKAART. It’s so worth it to be able to go to most museums for free.
I also enjoyed the company of some friends from back home who came through Amsterdam for a weekend. We went to the obligatory Irish bar for St. Paddy’s day, but spent
Even Taller
This is the church where the royal family is buried. Located in Delft. most of the weekend doing fun touristy things. We definitely had a girls day out on Sunday and went on a little shopping spree. As anyone who knows me can attest to, I’m a horrible shopper. I have no sense of style, and suffer extreme guilt over buying clothes I don’t necessarily need. I was content to buy two discount shirts from the boys section, but my friends convinced me to buy a nice blouse, some jewelry, and a very constructed jacket which is probably the trendiest piece of clothing I now own. Sunday was topped by dinner at an Indian restaurant which was mmmmmmm. I’m also excited to report that I found mozzarella cheese…….for 40 cents! I love euroshopper.
Random side note: Being abroad really makes me want to travel. Not necessarily backpacking through Europe and spending a weekend here, five days there, hostel after hostel. I love being in a place for more than a few weeks…or even a few months and really getting to know the people and the spirit of the place. I wish there was someway I could practically spend a year here and a year there and year way over there. I could
Delftware
This guy says he's 45. definitely be an expatriate. I’ve actually been thinking quite a lot about going to Costa Rica again. I went for three weeks during my sophomore year at SC and I loved it. I fantasize about going back and living in a beach hut at a place where the jungle meets the Caribbean and howler monkeys hoot overhead. I would live on coffee, papaya juice, rice, beans, and fish. The locals would know me and I’d be able to argue in Spanish. I’d go salsa dancing every weekend and be tan and decked out in flowy white cotton pants and beaded jewelry. I know that vision is romanticized, but I would love to live some semblance of it. I know its not practical to devote my time to leading that sort of life. I have responsibilities back home and need to pursue a career path that allows me live a comfortable lifestyle. At the same time though, I wish I could give up the traditional route and pick up and move to Costa Rica and pursue some sort of life there that my time in the states did not prepare me for. Years of a university education would be put to
Delftware Symbols
Only delfware with one of these signs is the real deal. Anything else is a fraud...even if it says Made in Holland. That might mean that the ink was made in Holland. waste since I’d probably end up working in a hostel or something. I wish I had the guts (as many people I read about on travelblog do) to just do it. I know I won’t. Still, it would easily fit into my Life Plan if I were to spend a few months to a year there. I know lots of students who take time off after University to go find themselves in the Great World Beyond. I’ve been looking into ways that I could practically spend a lengthened amount of time in Costa Rica and not detract from pursuing a career back home. So far….getting an internship (eco-toursim!), attending Spanish School, working for Habitat for Humanity, and WWOOFing all seem to be decent ways. I want to do this. I will do this. Peace corps?
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