Delft

We  got out of the city  last week and did some proper toerisme (tourism).

On Wednesday we did a day trip to Delft. This was our first time on a train since we took the train from the airport to central station on the day we arrived. And it was the first time for us to park our bikes in the massive bike parking lot at the Central Station. It’s such a cool example of the cycling infrastructure of the city.

We all wore short sleeves and didn’t pack jackets, so of course it started to rain not long after we arrived in the town. No matter. As West Coasters, we know that skin is waterproof.

We (eventually) found the precise pannekoeken house that Tobias wanted to try, and tucked into some hearty breakfasts. My pannekoek was covered in strawberries and ice cream. And we all ordered fancy hot drinks.

Then we went to visit the Nieuwe Kerk. It’s called the “new” church because its building began in 1396, as opposed to the “old” church (Oude Kerk), which was founded in 1246. Sophia is studying a bit about Protestantism and Catholicism in social studies this year and has learned that Protestant churches are typically less ornate and more staid than Catholic churches. So she and Sebastian were both amazed at how fancy the Nieuwe Kerk was. I guess they expected it to be very plain and modern looking, like our church back home, which was built in the 1970s. Now they don’t know whether to trust social studies texts anymore.

(I have since taken Sebastian to De Krijtberg a couple times so he, at least, can see that comparatively, the old Protestant churches ARE a lot plainer than the Catholic ones).

We hemmed and hawed about whether to pay an additional fee to gain entrance to the toren (tower), and boy am I glad that we did. Both kids declared that climbing the tower was “the best thing we’ve done here!” Previous contenders were the Amsterdamse Bos and the Gay Pride Parade.

You really have to be in the right frame of mind to manage the climbing of the 109m tower. It’s not so much the physical requirements, but the ability to remain calm while being totally smooshed against one side of the staircase when you encounter a group on their way down. There really just isn’t enough room to pass by, especially when people like me are carrying backpacks and cameras. It’s just a hilarious experience. You have to let go of ideas of decorum in order to make it happen. And sometimes people pass you on the other side and you are the one clinging to the stone pole with just a couple inches of step under your feet and you feel like you will start to slip and just slide all the way down to the bottom.

But the reward is well worth it.

The final photo requires a bit of explanation. The little gargoyle sticking his head out is supposed to prevent water from collecting on the balcony of the tower. There is a drain in the floor that collects the rain water and he rains it down upon the square. It was raining when we were on the tower, but not enough to make this much water come out of the gargoyle’s mouth. This was caused by Tobias (on a dare from Sophia) pouring water into the drain from a water bottle. We watched to see if anyone below got hit by water (I was really hoping they wouldn’t!) but the water dissipated before it hit the ground and since it was already raining no one below was the wiser.

After our epic climb, we needed to recuperate in a pub. The kids are delighted that they get to visit pubs here and so are we. We hit up Locus Publicus to check out their 200 item beer menu. We picked a cozy corner spot to watch the rain and ordered the kids hot chocolates. I think this must be Tobias’ favourite thing to do: examine a menu rich with Belgian options, cross reference the listings with some beer rating app, and make his choice, all with an audience of his three favourite people. And cheese is good too.

After that we braved the rain and headed to the Oude Kerk. This wasn’t nearly as fun as the Nieuwe Kerk, mostly because the tower is not climbable. In fact, the best way to enjoy the Oude Kerk is to look at it from the top of the Nieuwe Kerk tower, like this: 

I guess at this point in the day, your typical Delft visitor would start with the main attraction of Delft: shopping for Delftware. But we skipped that. We have no room in our luggage for anything that doesn’t fold down flat. Still, I liked the little visual references to Delft blue and Delftware designs that we saw around the town. Here are a few:

In the end, my favourite part of Delft was just that it was small and beautiful. Amsterdam is beautiful, but oh so hectic, and it was nice to be somewhere that felt a bit less frenzied, if only for a few hours.