Dropping in on Delft

Rested after yesterday’s exertions, we were up betimes and away fairly promptly at 9 a.m., heading out against the fairly strong incoming tide under the Erasmus bridge.

Soon we turned off the tidal river onto a smaller canal, through a lock dropping us a couple of metres, and then out through the suburbs, passing this mosque on the way. We have been intrigued at seeing so many mosques, and certainly didn’t know that apparently there are four to five hundred across the country, the oldest dating back to the 17th century.

It didn’t take long to get to Delft, and we moored up on the edge of town ...

... and then headed into the centre. The town is very attractive, criss-crossed by little canals, much too small for us to navigate.

As usual, the main action is to be found in the Markt Square, in front of the city hall. No prizes for guessing what this shop is selling:

And here’s the very imposing city hall itself:

There were plenty of souvenir shops, bars and cafes, and plenty of tourist groups, but we wandered about window shopping, tempted, for example, by these curtains, ideal for a parrot-fancying friend of ours:

On a whim, drawn by the tantalizing and delicious smells, rather than head back to the boat for lunch, we stopped at one of the fried fish stalls that seem to feature in all Dutch cities, and ate deep-fried calamari and fish goujons in our fingers, standing in the street. Delicious.

Strolling back, we decided that our lunch for 7 euro had definitely been better than these people were getting for considerably more. But the floating restaurant idea was fun.

Then it was off again, round the city walls and past this old gate:

We were in company with three or four other boats, bringing up the rear, which meant they did all the talking to the bridge operators. Holland is very flat so it doesn’t have many locks, but it compensates with bridges that are too low to get under. We nearly took the searchlight off on one, and came within a couple of inches at another.

Now we are moored up in a comfortable enough marina in The Hague. A bit industrial and rather far from the centre, but apparently there is a bus stop not far away, and we are busy planning our cultural itinerary for tomorrow morning.