Posts Tagged ‘South Holland’
A Couples Of Days In Delft
Delft is a beautiful little city, a town really given how it feels when you are in it’s centre. It had been some years since we had visited the city but we have some wonderful memories of a lovely passionate week spent in it, so Tyjardia and I took our children there for a couple of days. Delft is actually well positioned geographically if you also want to explore Rotterdam and Den Haag as it lays half way between the two. In fact, given the small size of our country in this case half way means that the town is reached by the urban transport systems of both major cities with train and bus lines direct to Rotterdam and a very efficient tram service direct to the heart of Den Haag as well as train of course. The beauty of this is if our two teenage boys got bored we could pack them off on the tram to Den Haag and the beach at Scheveningen to pose on the beach and oggle the girls, boys will be boys ! For our daughter we made the promise of a trip to Madurodam, Hollands smallest city, literally. Madurodam is a model of our country in miniature, always a favorite with children.
Delft is a fine example of the most typical of Dutch architecture and city design. It is criss-crossed with canals that keep the town dry and mimmick the much larger network in Amsterdam, so in a sense it is a more compact and less crazy version of Amsterdam, just much more user friendly. It is a delightful shopping centre if you want to escape the big chain stores with many small independent retailers and craft/art shops. Delft is also a great place if you like antiques (or junk) because of the enormous market the town has. For those with an interest in European history then Delft is full of it. Delft was the headquarters for William of Orange during the 80 Years War with Spain, and is the resting place of the kings and queens of The Netherlands.
If you want one final and over riding reason to visit Delft then there is Johan Vermeer. Johan Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632 and died there in 1675 and in between he painted, but, he painted the most beautiful and glorious paintings and seeing the town that formed that talent is a must.
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If you want to learn and see more about Delft then please see our delft page here.
Author: Nonke.
