06.16.06

A Day in Delft (yesterday) and A Lazy Day (today)

Posted in Vacations and Trips at 5:29 pm by mathagat

Draw Bridge

A Day in Delft
Matt and I changed our minds. We decided to go to Delft instead of Bruges yesterday due to the weather and the time. So, we set out with a leisurely walk to the train station, with stops along the way searching for coffee and juice and happened to find the breakfast of Matt’s dreams. He and I split a bagel of sour cream, salmon, and chives. It was delicious!!! Matt was very happy after such a great find.

After breakfast we arrived at the train station, bought tickets for Delft and got ready for the wonderful day ahead. Before we could board the train I had to use the water closet (restroom) and learned it was going to cost me .50 euros! I couldn’t believe that they were going to charge me for the toilet! I then learned that they will charge anywhere from .30 – 1.00 euro for a trip to the toilet!!! Who ever heard of such a thing??? One thing I have learned about Amsterdam is use the bathroom when you find one that’s free!

The train ride to Delft was wonderfully relaxing. I even took a nap on Matt’s shoulder while he took pictures of the amazing street art for Tom. We passed a traditional Dutch style windmill – that was a fun treat. The town of Delft was a terrific little town. We spent the first part of our trip looking for the tourism office – we needed a map! After passing the office several times we finally found it. Luckily there was a lot to see so we didn’t mind walking in circles. There were many markets set up in the town square. One was a flower market – my favorite. I wish a flower market would move in on our street in Cali, I would be in heaven!!! While in Delft we enjoyed seeing the old and new churches – what town in Europe doesn’t have an old and new church. Why don’t they get original like Delft UMC???? Matt had a great time taking photos of the picturesque town. He’s really loving his Nikon D70s. After a fun lunch and some fries with mayonnaise Matt and I set off for the walk to the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles or for us Americans the Royal Delft porcelain factory. Here we learned how the famous Dutch blue porcelain is made. It was amazing to watch the whole entire process and to see an artist painting one of the pieces. Matt and I spent time ohhing and ahhing over the beautiful works they had in the showroom but unfortunately we are not rich enough to purchase my favorites! Maybe later in life. After the Delft factory we were ready to catch the train back to Amsterdam. It had been a great day but we were getting a little cold, damp and tired from all the rain and walking. Funny though how a bit of rain doesn’t even phase you when your in such an amazing place.

After coming back and warming up Matt and I got back out to find dinner. We enjoyed a terrific Thai meal in the neighborhood at “the best Thai restaurant in Amsterdam”. It has been a long day and our bellies are full. That means it is time for bed. Tomorrow we plan to have a leisurely day in Amsterdam. Perhaps we’ll make it to the flower market!!!! Maybe we’ll go every day! Until then.

A Lazy Day
Today Matt and I relaxed! We didn’t even get up until 11:00!!! That’s a late morning for me. We started off walking towards the museum district. We stopped for lunch in Leidseplein square, a bustling are with theaters, restaurants and cafes. We had some wonderful pancakes – which we learned are more like crepes – with ham and pineapple, and on the safe side, a club sandwich with chips. If we’re unsure about food, we usually get one thing that’s a bit crazy and one that’s safe and then just share both with each other.From there we walked to the Heineken brewery for the Heineken Experience. Wow! This was fun. We strongly recommend this be something that anyone who is here does. Especially when you take in to account the cost. For 10 euro, you take a very aesthetically pleasing, technologically advanced, informative tour with loads of interactive stuff. This tour made for some great pictures. It also came with 3 beer tokens each and a token for a free gift. Definitely a highlight of the trip thus far.We headed from Heineken back to the hotel by way of the flower market. There were some really beautiful tulips (of course!) and roses for really cheap. At some point, I’m going to let Matt buy me some flowers, but up till now, I’ve just wanted to smell them and not have to carry them around. I’m sure we’ll have some tulips for the room sometime before we move on.

We topped off the day with a picnic style dinner on the bed here in the hotel room. Some crackers with gouda cheese, fresh tomatoes from the market, olives and garlic, some sort of meat that tasted a lot like gourmet bologna and a wonderful Sicilian shiraz made for a romantic and delicious (and inexpensive) meal. Oh yeah, we also had leftover Thai food from last night and pancakes from lunch today to add in to the mix. Yummy!

Till next post, we’re out…g-nite!

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