I spent the last two days in transit: one day from Prague to London via Zurich on Swiss International, one of my fave airlines. The next day, in transit again, from London to Amsterdam on the Eurostar high-speed train service via the Channel Tunnel. Believe it or not, it was cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket from London to Prague, and then add on the Eurostar ticket than it would have been to buy a one-way London-Prague air ticket and a one-way Prague-Amsterdam air ticket. Crazy but true.
And now I am back in Amsterdam, the European city I've visited more often than any other -- I think I've only missed it on 2 of my dozen-or-so European trips through the years. The hotel room on this package tour gave a spectacular view of Het Ij, the harbour of Amsterdam, replete with river cruise ships and ferries. The arched glass roof at the left side of the photo covers the famous Centraal Station rail terminal at the heart of the city.
Last night at dinner, I officially met the gang of music aficionados who are going to be my travel companions for the next eleven days. Some of them, of course, are good friends already from years of meeting at summer concerts at the Festival of the Sound.
Our first full day as a group included a day-long coach tour to two different destinations in the Netherlands. After years of sneering at people who almost missed tours, I slept in this morning and had to scarf down a power breakfast of rolls, ham, cheese, and coffee in order not to miss the tour!
We drove first for an hour and a half through the city and then south of Amsterdam to the old town of Delft. On the way through the city I managed to catch a couple of decent pics through the rain-spattered windows of the coach: a classic canal scene...
...and the elegant old Hotel Amstel, now an Intercontinental Hotel and one of the city's destination addresses, as it presides over the river whose name it proudly bears.
Then the drive down motorways to Delft. We were being taken to visit a Delft Blue factory. I was located on a quiet little street next to the Delft-Rotterdam canal. Here, we got a look at a freight barge (the owner's car perched on the deck for use at stopping places),...
...and a coot swimming in the canal. No little ones, though, so I still don't know what cooties look like (sorry, I had to do it).
Next, there was the exterior of the "factory" (actually quite small)...
... and the proud peacock which was the brand emblem of the business.
Inside the building, we had a chance to examine some of the best products of the house, all hand-made and hand-painted (and no, blue is not the only colour used in Delft!).
Although "Delft Blue" lookalikes can be purchased in shops everywhere, and may even be made in the Netherlands, most have the designs printed on the earthenware. We were next taken to view the stages whereby this classic ware is still made using the time-honoured methods: pouring the thin slurry of clay and water into a wooden mold, waiting for the outer layer to harden before emptying out the still-liquid centre, then firing in a kiln and drying for 24-32 hours,...
...painting the design on by hand in multiple steps,
...glazing the finish, and then firing again. It's the second firing that produces the classic deep, rich blue colour of genuine Delft ware. Important detail: we were told that most of the painters do their handiwork at home, free from the distractions of the tourist-oriented shop. That was said just as I began wondering how the artists could stand to work with all those cameras going off in their faces.
We then drove a short distance to a local restaurant which specializes in feeding large tour groups, and enjoyed a classic Dutch lunch of salads, Indonesian rice dishes, hot meat croquettes, cheeses, hams, fresh breads, and the like.
Our tour then drove back north, bypassing Amsterdam into North Holland. Along the way, our guide pointed out an area which represented the whole appearance of the swampy west side of the Netherlands before the work of digging canals, pumping water out, and reclaiming land had begun.
Our next destination was a major tourist attraction called Zansche Schaans (sounds sort of like "Zan-sheh Schaunz" with the "S" of the second word followed by a guttural "ch" familiar to anyone who's ever learnt any German). It's a recreation of traditional Dutch village life with a collection of houses, workshops, and windmills assembled from around the region as the old villages succumbed to urbanization in one of Europe's most densely populated countries.
So here are some outdoor views of the park.
On both machines, the form of a shoe mounted on the right serves as a template to guide the machine in the cutting and drilling.
The final finishing and decorating is still done, as of old, entirely by hand.
And speaking of finishing touches, I had to do one more touristy thing before we left.
Well, I also stopped in for a hot chocolate to fight off the chill of the wind and spats of rain. Anyone who's never tasted a Dutch hot chocolate doesn't know what real hot chocolate is like.
Our first full day as a group included a day-long coach tour to two different destinations in the Netherlands. After years of sneering at people who almost missed tours, I slept in this morning and had to scarf down a power breakfast of rolls, ham, cheese, and coffee in order not to miss the tour!
We drove first for an hour and a half through the city and then south of Amsterdam to the old town of Delft. On the way through the city I managed to catch a couple of decent pics through the rain-spattered windows of the coach: a classic canal scene...
...and the elegant old Hotel Amstel, now an Intercontinental Hotel and one of the city's destination addresses, as it presides over the river whose name it proudly bears.
Then the drive down motorways to Delft. We were being taken to visit a Delft Blue factory. I was located on a quiet little street next to the Delft-Rotterdam canal. Here, we got a look at a freight barge (the owner's car perched on the deck for use at stopping places),...
...and a coot swimming in the canal. No little ones, though, so I still don't know what cooties look like (sorry, I had to do it).
Next, there was the exterior of the "factory" (actually quite small)...
... and the proud peacock which was the brand emblem of the business.
Inside the building, we had a chance to examine some of the best products of the house, all hand-made and hand-painted (and no, blue is not the only colour used in Delft!).
Although "Delft Blue" lookalikes can be purchased in shops everywhere, and may even be made in the Netherlands, most have the designs printed on the earthenware. We were next taken to view the stages whereby this classic ware is still made using the time-honoured methods: pouring the thin slurry of clay and water into a wooden mold, waiting for the outer layer to harden before emptying out the still-liquid centre, then firing in a kiln and drying for 24-32 hours,...
...painting the design on by hand in multiple steps,
...glazing the finish, and then firing again. It's the second firing that produces the classic deep, rich blue colour of genuine Delft ware. Important detail: we were told that most of the painters do their handiwork at home, free from the distractions of the tourist-oriented shop. That was said just as I began wondering how the artists could stand to work with all those cameras going off in their faces.
We then drove a short distance to a local restaurant which specializes in feeding large tour groups, and enjoyed a classic Dutch lunch of salads, Indonesian rice dishes, hot meat croquettes, cheeses, hams, fresh breads, and the like.
Our tour then drove back north, bypassing Amsterdam into North Holland. Along the way, our guide pointed out an area which represented the whole appearance of the swampy west side of the Netherlands before the work of digging canals, pumping water out, and reclaiming land had begun.
Our next destination was a major tourist attraction called Zansche Schaans (sounds sort of like "Zan-sheh Schaunz" with the "S" of the second word followed by a guttural "ch" familiar to anyone who's ever learnt any German). It's a recreation of traditional Dutch village life with a collection of houses, workshops, and windmills assembled from around the region as the old villages succumbed to urbanization in one of Europe's most densely populated countries.
So here are some outdoor views of the park.
We were taken here for a visit to a wooden shoe factory. Originally these staple examples of the cultural uniqueness of Holland were carved entirely by hand. Today, the rough work is done by shaping a block of poplar or willow until it will fit the lathes. The lathe on the right (partly hidden) uses a circular saw to shape the block of wood to the form of the shoe. The two on the left are used by the craftsmen to drill out the interior of the shoe.
On both machines, the form of a shoe mounted on the right serves as a template to guide the machine in the cutting and drilling.
The final finishing and decorating is still done, as of old, entirely by hand.
And speaking of finishing touches, I had to do one more touristy thing before we left.
Well, I also stopped in for a hot chocolate to fight off the chill of the wind and spats of rain. Anyone who's never tasted a Dutch hot chocolate doesn't know what real hot chocolate is like.
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