Delft

New Church


Old Church - see how it leans?




One of the more creapy tomb stones on the church floor.



The weather this weekend was pretty yucky for biking or kayaking so Dennis and I decided to do some sightseeing. We took the train to Delft – about an hour and half ride from here. Delft is close to Den Hague and is known for the blue and white pottery. I had also heard that it’s just a really cute city center and nice for a day-trip.

Armed with our guide book, we arrived in town in time for lunch. We stopped at the recommended pannekoeken restaurant and sat down next to the Red Hat ladies. Apparently the Red Hat craziness extends beyond the US borders because this was definitely a Dutch-speaking group. For those who are unfamiliar, Red Hat is a club for women who are over age 50. The group is based on a poem about a woman who stopped caring what other people would think and said she would wear a red hat with a purple dress if she wanted to. So, the Red Hat ladies all wear purple clothes and red hats – they are unmistakable.

After lunch, we visited the Old Church and the New Church. The New Church is still very old by our standards, but it houses the tombs of the Dutch royal family – the House of Orange and Nassau. You may not have noticed, but orange is the unofficial color of the Netherlands even though their flag is red white and blue. In the Tour de France, the Rabobank team wears orange uniforms. Dutch people always recognize each other when they are traveling because they are the only people in the world who think orange pants are cool (and can actually buy them at a store!). Anyway, the church had a pretty nice display showing the history of the royal family.

The Old Church was cool, too. The tower of the church has a 2 meter lean which you can see in the picture above. I also found the tomb of Anton van Leeuwenhoek. Two points for anyone who actually knows the historical significance of this guy… Some of the tomb stones in the churches were pretty cool. Apparently, burying people in the floor of the church went out of style during the plague. The clergy realized that the risk of catching the plague might keep people away from church.

There was also a nice antique market going on. We snooped around quite a bit and found a great set of Delft vases at a really unusual booth. When we walked up there was a Dutch lady teasing the sales guy about his accent. To demonstrate, he spoke in English – Texan English – to show her what it sounds like. I might add here that it was Texan English with a bit of a gay lisp. The other guy in the booth was actually Dutch. Both of them were very friendly and gave us lots of tips on looking for Delft pottery and also on sightseeing in the Netherlands. I’m sure the Netherlands is more welcoming of their lifestyle than anywhere in Texas. It ended up that these guys had the nicest vases and the best prices in town. We got a set of two vases and a matching urn for 65 euros. I’m sure they are not hand-painted, but at least they aren’t from China.