55 of the 115 on the Great Rivers of Europe Tour were out of the hotel by 8:30 when our band of 13 heading toward Burges, Belgium.
(Getting REAL tired of buses...!)
Anyhow, 1 1/2 hours down the road we entered Delft. Yes, that Delft. Famous for the blue pottery. I thought I would be bored to tears with the visit/demonstration of the local Delft manufacture shop. turns out I was wrong.
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| Bruges Extension gang |
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| Entering Delft, hell of a place to 'park' a bike |
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| Delft Square |
As we crossed a canal into the town, we walked along a street lined with shops, all closed as it was Sunday. The day was grey and cold but the town looked to be a jewel.
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| Delft town hall on the square |
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| Delft church on the square |
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| Lots of stained glass windows, most looked pretty old |
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| Hmm. Next window piece for Florida? |
At the Delft pottery shop, Stephan (the owner) put on a demonstration of how the various pieces are made and painted. A painter was on site and demonstrating the very delicate art of hand painting each of the pieces. There are three companies that have the trademark Delft name and we learned about imposters. Naturally, we were given the opportunity to purchase 'stuff'
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| Getting there |
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| Almost final stage |
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| Two days for the original firing |
Wandered around the town and we figure we could spend some major time here.
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| Delft Canal |
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| Alongside canal |
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| Quiet side street |
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| Tourists everywhere, even on Sunday....... |
We left Delft just before noon and drove to the border of Belgium where we stopped for lunch at a buffet place rest-stop. Not bad.
We entered Ghent after lunch, about 1:30. Fantastic does not begin to describe what we saw.
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| Approaching the town |
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| The market square/canal |
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| From the bridge |
We had Vim, a local resident, as a guide. He spent adequate time explaining the 'early times' and how the city prospered even though the world was crazy around them. It seems to have all been about the money. Imagine that! He did not go into a thousand dates and names but put the tour into a fun walk.
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| Entrance to the fish market |
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| A touch of whimsy |
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| Did not see this one coming... |
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| Guild houses along the canal, one leaning right |
The city began in the 1200's and early construction techniques involved driving wooden piles deep into the soft earth. Over time, some buildings have leaned to one side or the other. We saw evidence of that everywhere.
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| Court of 14 castle |
The castle above was built not for defense but for show. The rulers of Ghent had this built to show they had power.
We left Ghent about 4:00 and headed to Bruges. We arrived at our hotel Casselbergh at about 5:15. The hotel is a combination of old and new and is modern throughout.
We took a 20 minutes tour around the block to get a tad familiar with the area. The city seems like a good place to meander and look, which we will do tomorrow.
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