Day 9 Waking in Rotterdam,
Shopping in Delft,
Viewing Windmills
We woke up on a very wavy river Maas in Rotterdam and the boat rocked the whole time
we were docked there. We had a nice
breakfast as always, and then loaded the buses to visit the city of Delft. As we drove through
Rotterdam the
guide talked about how the city had been destroyed by the Germans because they
were a little late surrendering to the Germans during WWII. Since then they have built the city, mainly
in the modern style and is not a particularly pretty city. It is a very busy city and traffic was
terrible on the way to Delft.
The city of Delft
is a very pretty city and was not harmed during the war. We first went to a Delft
factory and the owner explained how Delft
used to have many breweries until business went bad and those breweries were
changed to making china. This china
business did not prosper until these businesses started imitating the china
coming from the Chinese. Then Delft china became very
prosperous and now is world famous.
However, the real Delft
is quite expensive and is now being imitated by the Chinese!! That’s how history happens, I suppose.
The owner explained the process of making the china and all
the firings that are done and then about the painting. I missed the last part because I had already
started shopping and didn’t pay attention to the entire lecture. I found several pieces I wanted and put them
in a small basket to protect it while I shopped some more. I really wanted a
plate painted in several colors but just could not bring myself to buy it. That stuff IS expensive. I did buy my mother a flower vase, one small
‘wooden’ shoe, a magnet, and a small, very small, platter. I knew that if I had them ship it home, I
wouldn’t have to fool with packing it and protecting it, so that was fairly
important to me. When I found out that
they would reduce the price by 19% by not charging me the VAT tax I decided
that I would definitely ship it. I
mentioned that to the others and Sue and Sarah MC decided that we should all
ship all our purchases together and save money.
So instead of each of us paying 32.5 Euro each, we paid 50 Euro total
for shipping. We probably spent more money
than we had planned, but we’ll probably be glad. Others shopped but I don’t really know what
they bought, if anything.
After leaving that shop, some of us joined the walking tour
and others went on their own to do a little shopping and not so much
walking. The walking tour was
interesting in that we saw lots more canals and the old church and the new
church. Both were very nice and I have a
decent photo of the carved king’s sarcophagus which includes his dog at the
king’s feet. The stained glass was
beautiful. I think my favorite part of
the town was called the Butter
Bridge – it’s a canal
that goes perhaps 500 feet but in underneath the brick sidewalk. So it’s a covered canal and the sidewalk is
gently raised over it.
We then had some special tiny pancakes with a special name I
can’t pronounce or spell – sorry about that.
Then we had free time and I bought some ‘cheap’ Delft magnets and I also bought a watch at a
shop where they sell very expensive watches and clocks. I asked the man for the cheapest watch he had
and I liked it enough to buy it for less than 30 Euro. I have now bought myself a necklace and a
watch in addition to having my hair style severely changed. Wonder if I’m having a mid-life crisis?!?!?! No, wait – it’s way too late for that. Oh, well.
When I got back on the bus, I found out that Bonnie from Rome, GA
had found a yarn shop and bought beautiful yarn. I tried to get off the bus and get to the
yarn shop, over the shouted objections from my FRIENDS, but the GCT guide
assured me that there would be a yarn shop in the city we visit tomorrow.
We got back to the boat and immediately went to lunch and
the ship left Rotterdam
headed for Kinderjilk – I probably spelled that wrong. We got there and left the ship by 3:30 for a
walking tour that included a boat ride in order to see the 19 windmills. It started raining about the time we got
there and rained until we left, sometimes quite hard. We did a lot of walking, as always, but
toured inside a windmill. It was
interesting and I realize how small the inside is (considering a good portion
of it is taken up by large gears that are part of the windmill works) and how
large their families often were (up to about 13 children). The different levels
of the windmill are connected by very steep steps. VERY STEEP!! I climbed to the first upper level, but waited
there for Sarah MC and Sue to go on to the top.
I climbed down, very slowly, to a lot of encouragement, and was so glad
to reach the bottom. That was scary!!!!
The purpose of the windmills was mainly to move water from one canal to another
so that it could be moved to the river and taken away from the living
areas. All but one of these windmills
are still lived in and there is a long waiting list to be allowed to live in
one of them. The windmills do operate
but there was no wind today so they were not turning. It was a nice afternoon, but my feet and legs
really hurt by the end of it.
We got back to the ship and rested a short while before
dinner and the ship left that port headed for dinner. Sue and I dried off our
deck chairs and actually sat in the deck for a little while and it was nice.
The weather might have reached almost 60 degrees and that is indeed balmy after
the last several days. Again, dinner
was very nice and our waiters have gotten used to our idiosyncrasies and so
they are not at all surprised when Sarah and I request the alternative –
grilled chicken breast. I also request
the vanilla ice cream instead of the fancy desserts they offer. Tonight, the others had salmon, perch, or
some type of pasta along with a soup and an appetizer. The desserts were tiramisu and some fancy ice
creams. We had a wonderful time during
dinner watching the river, riverbanks and the other traffic on the river. It was beautiful mainly because the weather
had turned beautiful.
After dinner, Linda and I went to the guides to discuss the
visit to Nimjagen tomorrow. This city is
not a tourist city and so we may go on the walking tour in the morning, at
least for a little while until we find the yarn shop!!! The others are not sure if they will go or if
they will rest up for the afternoon trip to the Floriade. We’ll just have to wait and see.
We have not had wi-fi for three days now. I have not been able to upload photos or send
the blog, but I hope to be able to in the morning after the yarn shop. I’ve got to have my priorities in the right
place, right??? I have just about
knitted a scarf on the trip – it’s about as long as I am tall, but I want it to
be a little longer. Then I plan to make
a shroom cap from the rest of the yarn – good thing I bought two skeins of
it!!! I learned the pattern in Bruges – I think I’ve
told you about that already so I’ll stop.
Nite.
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