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Delft, The Netherlandsby Janice Rossen
Many visitors enjoy Amsterdam, and this is definitely the place to go if you love The Big City. It is bustling with activity, crammed with sidewalk cafes, and laced with those wonderful canals. The Historical Museum and the Rijksmuseum are most impressive, and the Van Gogh Museum commands respect for one of the world's most powerful artists. You will see paintings seem to quiver with passion, on the wall in front of you.
The rhythm of the week runs underneath the flow of time, and I always anticipate the market on Thursday, when vendors set up their stalls in the town square. You can stroll along the canal and view a fabulous display of flowers (some varieties of which I've never seen in the U.S.), and perhaps buy a bit of cheese and some apples for a picnic lunch. On Saturdays, the market appears again--though this time consisting only of fresh produce and flowers--and there will nearly always be live music, to create a festival atmosphere. Most outlandish is the Flea Market, which takes place on Saturdays during the summer months.
Our other favorite outings are to travel to Paleis Het Loo, which is the Dutch royal palace, and quite magnificent (in a typically Dutch, understated way). This is located in Apeldoorn, and makes a great day of strolling through the grounds and looking at furniture and paintings which evoke Holland's past. If you travel north to Enkhuizen, you can visit the Buitenmuseum, where a cluster of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings have been reconstructed to form a small village. Another fantastic spot is the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, in Rotterdam (only a short train ride from Delft). In addition to stunning paintings, they have mounted an exhibition of ceramic pots, beginning with those made in the eleventh century.
Here is the secret, however: the main square is lots of fun, and you can watch the tourists stroll by. But everyone else hangs out at the Beestenmarkt, the other main square, where you can sit under a canopy of huge trees. We love to dine at the Cafe Vlaanderen, either in the enclosed patio at the back or huddled inside with cheerful candles blazing on every table. The most exquisite restaurant in Delft is Le Vieux Jean, which is (what else?) French, and very elegant indeed. Ditto, the Restaurant L'Escalier. Their hospitality is superb, and everyone speaks English. The Golden Age of Dutch Painting--that phenomenal outpouring of masterworks by painters such as Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer--still lives on. And it does so comfortably, making visitors welcome, and feeding them well. Add in an exuberance of fresh flowers, and you can have the most pleasant holiday in the world. Photos by Janice Rossen The following information may be useful in planning a visit: The Hotel de Ark web-site can be found at: www.deark.nl . The Mauritshuis Museum address is: www.mauritshius.nl , the Dutch Army Museum: www.armymuseum.nl (this should not be missed) and the Boijmans Van Beuningen: www.boijmans.rotterdam.nl . Cafe De Vlaanderen: www.vlaanderen.nl (they are open daily), Le Vieux Jean: www.levieuxjean.nl |
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TM
I
love Holland--or, the Netherlands, as it should be properly called. In
several years of visiting there, I have never grown tired of visiting its
superbly run museums, riding my resident bicycle around the town of Delft,
and sitting at cafe tables under the trees, sipping an espresso. My
husband, an engineering professor, travels there to collaborate on
scientific papers. I revel in the slower pace of life, the courtesy of the
Dutch people I have met, and the fabulous art and historic sights to be
found in this amazing country.
But
for myself, I like staying in Delft. While it is incredibly picturesque, it
does not feel as though only tourists troop through--it is very much a
working, living town, with a Technical University, a town square that comes
alive with weekly markets, and some terrific restaurants. We have stayed
many times at the Hotel De Ark, right in the center of town, and it is one
of my favorite hotels in the world. The rooms are bright with sunlight
filtering through the huge windows, it is impeccably clean, and the enormous
breakfast buffet they serve will last you through a day of sight-seeing.
My
favorite excursion is to hop onto the Number One tram, which runs to the
next city, The Hague. If you get off at the Central train station, it is
only a short walk to the Mauritshuis, one of the most exquisite art museums
in Europe. It is small, which a museum ought to be if it possibly can--and
it houses three Vermeer paintings and a Rogier van der Weyden which always
mesmerizes me. (Remember: nearly all museums in Holland are closed on
Mondays, so try to make this a traveling day--or simply take the day off
from sight-seeing.) 
Still,
you don't even need to leave Delft, to have a wonderful day. You can climb
to the top of the New Church tower, or walk through the Dutch Army Museum
and view an endless succession of military costumes, a full-size replica of
a jousting knight, and actual tanks and airplanes. The Municipal Museum Het
Prinsenhof, is also in Delft, and was the home of Prince William of Orange.