Day 11 Delft, as in Blue & White China; June 26, 2008

Today was a total wild goose chase that ended really well!

I wanted to go to the Peace Palace at The Hague. I knew it would be a problem because I should have gotten tickets earlier, but I tried anyway. I took the train from Utrecht to The Hague and hunted 10 blocks for the tourist information. That was my only chance to get in today. They called but all tickets for today and tomorrow are already taken. Not possible.

So, onto the tram for the ride South to Delft. It's a pretty little town with canals and old buildings mixed with new. The canals are at street level. It's amazing to me that the canals are not lower. (?) If the water rose 6 inches everything would flood.

Caught the blue and white tourist bus to the Delft porcelain factory. It's been making delft porcelain since 1637. There used to be lots, like 40 porcelain manufacturers in that town. About 200 years ago the market dwindled and all but this one went out of business. They survive by being extremely expensive and exclusive.

The factory is now in a 1900's brick building and is smaller than you'd expect considering how famous it is. I really enjoyed the tour. I saw lots of greenware stacked up waiting to be painted and their demonstrations were really clear. Our guide was fun and our group was small. Our tour was in Dutch and English and we were being followed by a German tour group. On the other hand, this is definitely not a destination worth making a special trip for. I noticed tour buses stop here but you can't afford to buy anything. I admired a lovely dish with a lid, about 8 inches across. I turned it upside down to find the price and it was 334 Euros which is about $500!

The highlight of the day was the toothless driver of the little blue and white bus that took me to the factory. He gave me a running guided tour of Delft as we drove around. The bus ran out to a camp ground outside of town, and it was lovely with cows and trees. "Happy cows" as Laura would call them (-line inserted by Shelley who is typing because Mom types slow as molasses).

I knew there was a market in Delft on Thursdays. I've discovered how people can afford to live here. They don't buy anything in the shops because the prices are horrible. They buy from the market. I found two-tone organza sheer fabric for 1.50 Euro a meter. I bought 6 meters and felt like I got a real steal. The chocolates were a lot cheaper in the market too; I had a few of those, of course!

I also discovered that the InterCity train is faster than the 'Stoptrein' by about double. I took the fast train there and the slow train back and it took forever!