The day started out warm, as we headed to Delft on the number 1 tram from the Hague. The distance between these two cities is only a few miles, and there is no open countryside. We cross several waterways, and one is a drawbridge. Three big boats work their way through the water as we wait on either side of the drawbridge. We come to the immense construction, stretching for a few miles. I see the old, elegant train station coming into view, and I tell Jack to get ready, we are getting off the tram. We drag our luggage down the few stairs of the tram as people wait to get on the tram. We walk several blocks to our hotel; Jack is giving me dirty looks every once in awhile, since he has my big bag and my cosmetic bag. They are much too heavy and he wants me to throw out my stuff. I apologize to him and keep walking. Thank goodness Holland is flat!
We finally get to the little hotel and Jan Wilhelm is waiting for us. We sign in and he takes us upstairs to our room - no lift in this old building. But he helps us with our luggage. Our room is huge! It has a sitting room, a nice area for the bed, a wonderful bathroom and an air conditioning unit. I am in heaven. Jack looks at our reservations to see how much this room will cost. We try to stay in hotels which are not too expensive - not more than about 80 euro a night. That translates into about $100 per night. It turns out that Jan Wilhelm has given us one of his larger rooms, since we are staying almost a week.
Guidebook information
Delft is known for its blue and white ceramics. It is the hometown of Grotius, the father of international law, Johannes Vermeer, the artist, and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who perfected the microscope.
The name delft means moat. It was founded in 1074, and its peak in prosperity was in the 13th and 14th centuries because of its cloth trade and its brewing industry.
Delft today is an intellectual center, because it has schools of natural sciences, hydraulic labs and technical university.
Its ceramics became known in the second half of the 17th century, mainly as a technique similar to chinese porcelain. By the 18th century the delftware had competition from the German and English porcelain, but it is still made today in several local factories.
Walking Tour
It was a beautiful day, so we got our map from Jan Wilhelm and started for our investigation of the town. The hotel is in old Delft, and old Delft was our interest. Usually the Holland towns have a church or a stadhuis (town hall) in the center of the town, with an area known as the plein, similar to a piazza, plaza, place, etc. We found this area of town and it was probably the best laid out area we had seen in all of Holland. The "new church" (built 1381) on the right, the town hall on the left, and a huge area in between. Cafes, bars and stores were situated all around the plein. The middle was saved for sauntering, talking and visiting. And on certain days they set up the market: fruits, vegetables, cheese, fish, pastries and meats on one end and clothes, shoes and electronics, books and odds and ends for buying and selling. This area was truly the center of the city and had been for ten centuries.
It was midday and we were hungry, so we looked around for a place to eat. There are dozens of cafes around the plein, so we picked one and sat down. We really liked this little cafe and went back there for dinner. We people watched and took in the many sights around the plein.
We found the tourist office, next to the fish market that had been there for several centuries. It is still open everyday and still busy. The tourist office gave us a good map and a good walking tour, which we tackled immediately.
We started with the new church which stands on the square. Most of the royal family of Orange are buried there: William the Silent, an important historical figure in Netherlands history has a very impressive mausoleum. (In the 1500's the Dutch were tired of Spanish oppression, so William the Silent raises an army which began the Eighty Years' War. In 1584 he was assassinated in Delft).
This new church started out as a catholic church but in the 1500's the Dutch adhered to the teachings of Calvin and so stripped the church of any adornments. We have found most of the churches of Holland to be quite plain, white walls but many stained glass windows, usually depicting historical events. People can pay to climb up to the tower to see a fine city view, but we decided not to try that. Old, steep stairs and heights are not our favorites.
Across the square is the town hall, a fine old building that has a long history. Here in Holland the bride and groom come here to sign their papers, and during our stay in Delft, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, several wedding groups came here for the ceremony. I am not sure if the wedding ceremony is staged in any of the churches, but the legal ceremony in the town hall is very important.
We divided our walking tour into several parts, since we were going to be in Delft a few days. We were ready to get back to our room and set up our "home" for the next week.
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