Delft

Today was a relaxing day where the main activity was a trip to the
nearby city of Delft. You may know this city for their trademark blue
painted porcelain. Since it's Saturday, we made the trip to explore
the local market, one of the better ones in the area.

The day ended up being a tour de force of all of my favorite Dutch
cuisine treats. Breakfast was my childhood favorite, chocolate
"sprinkles" on buttered toast. You may know of sprinkles from your
local ice cream shop, these are on a level far greater. Breakfast was
shortly followed by the first thing we saw at the market, a street
vendor stroope waffle maker. (think two flat waffle cones with
sugarary honey in between. Ask for a sample when I get back)
From there we walked the market, admiring the cheese guys, flower
vendors, herring and of course french frie vendor. The Dutch love
their fries as much as Americans, but here they are served with
mayonnaise, lots of mayonnaise. "When in Delft," so I ordered with
just a little mayo, and it wasn't too bad. The fries are great, thick
and fresh and salty. Add a little mayo and just keep me away from my
doctor.

We finished exploring the market, having ate and bought our way to
Dutch happiness. A tea/lunch break was called for in the town square,
where the Nieuwe Kerk (new church) presides. We quickly popped our
heads into the church because it was there, but also because many of
the Dutch royalty are burried there including William of Orange (the
reason for orange as a national color).

Lunch was quick and tasty, where I had my final Dutch treat of the day
(after sprinkles, cheese, stroope waffle and mayo fries). That would
be mini Dutch pancakes called pufijerts (need to check spelling),
served with powdered sugar. Awesome. Anyway, after taking a post lunch
stroll to digest our food we get back in the car to head home.

By this time the weather had turned for the worse. It was cold and
rainy and we decided that we needed to warm up. What better place than
the North Sea??!! Where we were really going was the beach community
of Scheveningen (think Atlantic City with European class). We weren't
going for a swim, a walk on the boardwalk or even a stop in the
casinos. We simply wanted to have a tea with a view of the sea, and is
precisely what we did. Even in the middle of winter in a rain storm
people were outside walking, umbrellas angling toward the wind for
protection. The four of us were plenty happy to watch from our seats
next to the window, hot tea in hand.

Having sufficiently warmed up we went back to the residence and
relaxed the rest of the evening, working out, eating leftovers and
watching movies. Tomorrow should be an equally relaxing sunday with a
trip out to my aunt and uncle's lake house the only thing on the
schedule. Until the next update...