The Rhine -Delft to Amsterdam
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We had a tour of the Delft factory. This massive mural of tiles was on one of the walls. The guide explains the process of making delftware while a woman works at her station. Rich is on the left. The mold for this vase is on the far left. The vase on the left is the greenware, next is after the first firing. The design is painted on, then fired to become blue. Here are plates of Vermmer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. We really liked these black glass items made at the factory so instead of a set of dinner plates we bought the black tile on the right. The white rectangle is the price tag. Next we went to Schoonhoven. Outside dining is very common in Europe and the diners often face the street so they can see everyone passing by.
We didn't see any tulips growing - June is too late in the season - but this vendor is selling the bulbs. In this market we bought spicy green and black olives to munch on. This doorway was topped by a lot of different crests. It was chilly when we toured this garden. The gardeners were using laser surveying equipment to make sure the hedges were exactly the same height! This is a seat in the garden made of delftware tiles. We walked by this shop to see the old skates and shoes. A picturesque village We saw locks everywhere.
The ship has a set of controls for docking on each side of the top deck so they captain can ease the boat beside a dock. Then the deckhands jump off the boat to receive the lines for tying the boat to the land. The poor guy onboard tried about 5 times before the line finally reached shore while 198 people watched. You can see the line start on the left about midway up. Fred, our travel agent, with Stan Cotton (Mel Cotton Sporting Goods in San Jose) and one of the other 55 people traveling with Fred and Ginger. We stopped to rest next to a gal and her little dog. The dog carried his toys to everyone who passed by. Well, it's time for a Subway sandwich in Gouda??!! Rich's Mother and Pris' granddmother and aunt had a wringer for their washer.
In the plaza was a "cuckoo" clock which had moving medieval people. We went to a local farm to view the Gouda cheese making process. We bought a round of Gouda cheese encased in wax. According to the guide if we left it alone it would keep until we got home. Unfortunately he forgot to tell us to be careful so the wax wouldn't get broken. Oops, into the garbage can when we got home. Notice the poppies growing at the right side of the garden. The building where the cheese is made: molds on the left, the vat to make the cheese in the middle and cheese rounds on the right. Cheese is floating in liquid and then left on the board in the center to dry. The cheese farm had sheep in the front yard. Rich's favorite sightseeing position.
This gnome was in the yard across the street. At first I thought that "te koop" meant "to rent," which made this scene really cute, but it probably means "for sale." As the bus took us back to the boat we saw this working windmill. It was probably the best picture, even with a bit of glare from the bus window. About this time the bus met the garbage truck. We had a hard time getting around it. We also saw flag poles with back packs hanging on them, indicating that the high school students had passed their exams. The Gothic Town Hall in Gouda Beds on ships are really twins. Each of us had a down quilt. Quite often in Europe we did not have a top sheet, but a duvet cover, which was changed daily. Weird! Our cabin girl removed the bedspread each night while we were at dinner. We took a bus to Anne Frank's house. Going through the rooms of her house was a sombering experience - no furnishings were left, but we climbed up the stairs to their hideout. In each room were audio and video clips to document her stay there. This is the statue of her in the street outside her house. On the way back from her house we went through the Red Light District - Rich thought the women on display were too old, fat and had too much on!
She was our tour guide for several days, wearing the same outfit all days. We enjoyed her interesting English words. The canals of Amsterdam were great! Look closely to see the many bridges over them. As we cruised the canals we saw lots of houseboats. I liked the colors of this one. We toured the Maritime Museum. This is a replica of the Dutch East-India Merchant Man, Amsterdam. Here's Rich on the deck of the sailing ship with a bell. We thought of the one in our back yard when I took his picture. This is Nemo (National Center for Science and Technology), a boat-like structure in Amsterdam's harbor. People sunbathe on the roof of it. http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/nemo/