Saturday, October 10, 2026

Visiting Delft and The Hague

 Having seen quite a lot of Amsterdam in prior visits I decided it would be great to check out cities not already visited! Trains are frequent and easy to take.

First Delft....... this was a word , delph/delf ,  I grew up with in Ireland, used daily for earthenware and crockery.....

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Intrigued by the door we discovered that it is the oldest stone built house in Delft and has been occupied since 1645!!
Round the corner from it was a windmill...... functioning??

and then on to our first church.......the Oude Kerk


with its amazing organ.....


This is where Vermeer is buried.....






He had a lot of company..........



Then on to the other old church..... called the Nieuwe Kerk .....it was a little younger but not much!

with its equally imposing organ.......
It holds the burial vaults of the Dutch Royal family..... William of Orange was buried there, great -grandfather of the British William of Orange

Going around the streets was interesting!
Parking for your bike ...out of the rain presumably.....


...and being able to step directly into your boat on the canal......



Then on to The Hague.....
The Mauritshuis museum where the Girl with the Pearl Earring normally resides... but was on vacation in Japan when we were there!  Now back apparently!



The Dutch Parliament complex.... apparently the oldest parliament building in the world still in use.[1][2]


..and then it was time to retreat indoors to avoid the very heavy rain!

So we went to the Escher museum in the Het Palace....







I was quite fascinated by the amazing chandeliers.......created by Hans van Bentem