Blog

After a leisurely morning, we headed to the train station on this warm, sunny morning to board our train to Delft, a town in the south of Holland known for it’s hand made and hand painted Delft blue pottery and typically Dutch town center. For Ellen this was a highlight of the trip and as with her passion for tulips, Delftware holds a special place in her heart. Delft is one of her favorite towns in Holland and she visited Delft often. It was open day at the Royal Delft factory and we took full advantage of that, walking through the factory, admiring the exhibits and most importantly, shopping! Open day includes not only workshops where you can paint your own delftware, but they also offer discounts of between 20% and 70% off authentic, hand-painted Delftware.

Another one of Ellen’s favorite Dutch treats is kwaaktaart! We headed back to the Delft town square in search of koffie en kwaaktaart where the Saturday market was in full swing where throngs of people were doing the grocery and flower shopping.  Eventually we came across the perfect little coffee shop where we can relax and reflect on the day.   Our train journey back to Amsterdam was eventful in that although Michelle’s Afrikaans helped her understand that the train would not go any further than Harlem, what the sign neglected to say was that the only way to get to Amsterdam would be by bus. Well, we made it and after a farewell wander and dinner in Amsterdam, we’re back on the houseboat packing up in preparation for our trip to London tomorrow. World Travel Market begins on Monday and it will be 4 days of negotiating, discovering, sharing and socializing with fellow members of the Tourism industry as we connect with our partners in the destinations we are experts in and work to increase our knowledge of more wonderful experiences which we can share with you….Afscheid van Amsterdam!