Delft in the Tram!

This morning was wonderful...a nice, relaxed start -- and then off to the tram stop!  As we arrived, the tram stopped just in front of us.  Perfect!

The kids with Ada in front of the Peace Palace, next to the tram stop!

This is the best car in the world -- it has a bottomless well of dropjes!

Off we rode in the tram, and enjoyed the views all the way.  It's so much fun to see how very different the architecture is here.  Much more use of brick as opposed to stone, and the tall, narrow houses are charming.  I love the white trim against the dark brick -- it's like a gingerbread!

The boys in the tram, examining everything.

The small bricks with wide, high mortar joints

Once we got off the tram, we went directly to the tourist office...well not directly.  We followed the lovely blue & white signs pointing this way and that.  I turned left as I was told.  Then there was no tourist office.  So we looked around blankly (doing the tourist gaze), and saw a sign across the bridge...pointing to the right.  We crossed the humpbacked bridge, and then James descended to the canal to talk to some ducks. 

Meeting and greeting mallards by the canal

James and the duck sharing deep thoughts.

After the ducks had said goodbye and James had waved to all of them, we were off once again.  We scored a map of the area, and went hunting for the new church, which is only about 450 years old.  William of Orange is buried there, as are several other notables.  The tower is reached via some nicely claustrophobia-inducing stairs.  Lots of them.  Fortunately, there are several stages where you can rest (oh, excuse me -- "admire the view").  And some fun gearing to admire. 

We scared the pants off ourselves looking over the parapet, and then slid back down the tower.  Food was clearly indicated.  I asked the lovely ticket agent where we could procure some "kroketten", which are these lovely creations.  They consist of a gluey, peppery meat filling surrounded by a crunchy crumb coating that is then deep fried.  Ashley thought she had died and gone to heaven.  As did I.  The others liked them rather well, also.  We tried a new flavor of Fanta -- black currant!  That got six thumbs up.

Kids eating kroketten.  Mmmm.

Fortified by our snack (having also delved into the bag of treats Kari had thoughtfully provided), we went to the Old Church and the Prinsenhof.  At the old church, we saw the helpful ticket lady for the third time (we'd also seen her as we were savoring our kroketten), and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings.  It's really beautiful -- soaring arches, simplicity of construction.  We discussed the reformation and Lutheranism. 

The Prinsenhof is where William the Silent was murdered by Balthasar someone, and the bullet holes have been preserved for the gratification of tourists 440 years later.  Having read about the incident in our history, it was a thrill to see it in real life!  Then we spent some time comparing the Italian art we've seen to the Flemish that was contained in the Prinsenhof.  Down a spiral staircase (with some dreamy twisted brick), and it was definitely time for snack.  The thing you learn about travel is that everything revolves around food.  Particularly when with children -- otherwise, frayed tempers result, and fur starts to fly. 

Stonework inside the arch to the Prinsenhof

On the way, I saw an office supply store.  Since office supplies are like drugs to the kids (and me), we had to go in.  Besides, I wanted to find fountain pens for the kids.  We found some really nice ones, and made our purchases. 

Back in the market, we found some lovely raspberries and red currants.  So we munched those.  Oh! We also tried some warme waffels -- which are not what you think.  They're like waffle cookies (stroopwaffel, for those in the know) with a syrup filling (spicy, a bit molasses-y, and very gooey), and then thrown on a griddle for maximum sweetness and goo.  Yup, a diabetic coma in the making. 

Since there was a sweets stand at the market, we took the opportunity of taking care of our purchase of dropjes.  Then a few more errands (involving a wool shop, of course), and back to the station!  We dropped the girls off at the station to ride the train to Leiden, and then the boys and I went home in the tram.  Erik & Ada picked us up, and we drove to Kari's house.  In the meantime, Kari had picked up the girls at the train station. 

A delicious dinner of (can you believe it?) pasta and now we're relaxing to Nina's and Eleanor's piano playing.

Jeremy took many more photos, but our batteries are unfortunately dead.  We'll recharge tonight and then we'll take more of the surroundings, the houses, and the family!

Love,

Alexandra

p.s., I'm going to rename this blog to "Taking in Europe One Meal at a Time."