The combination of a day and a half travel and jet lag laid us all low at a ridiculously early hour. So, we were all awake at another ridiculously early hour. This gave us plenty of time to get ready for the 7 o’clock breakfast start. A bonus of our cute little hotel is the included breakfast which left very little to be desired. Strong, flavourful coffee, eggs, ham, pastries (amazing croissants) and Judy’s favourite, Dutch pancakes.
Plan for the day was to explore the city of Delft. Because it was Thursday, market day, the town square was full of merchants setting up their stalls. We wandered the streets and there was a picturesque scene around every corner, I mean every corner. This is one beautiful town. 
We wandered until 10 o’clock when the Oude Kerk (Old Church) opened. Construction was started in the early 1200s and as it was only built when money was available so it took 400 years to complete. The first thing you notice on entering is how plain and austere the interior is in comparison to many of the bling encrusted churches we’ve seen elsewhere. The Old Church is noteworthy as the final resting place of local boy Johannes Vanmeer (the painter). When he died he was living in near-poverty so to save money they buried him standing up. Later, when the locals realized how important he was they dug him up and reburied him properly. 
We headed back to look through the market and settled in to a local coffee shop for some delicious caffeinated drinks. We spent some time in an amazing cheese shop which sold 31 different varieties of Gouda cheese. The two clerks in Hans Brinker outfits were very humorous and flirtatious with the girls. The next stop was a canal boat tour. The guide and captain was a young lady who was about to graduate in engineering from. Things we learned about Delft: properties were taxed by the amount and size of their front windows so if you were a show off you had plenty of windows, if you didn’t like paying taxes you put your windows on the back of the house. There were ropes along some canals sides, they are not there to assist drunks who fall into the canal but to give cats that have fallen in a way out. Engineering graduates’ bikes are thrown in the canal to symbolize they will be getting a well-paid job and can afford a car. The bikes that are fished out of the canal are resold to help finance student housing. 
We lunched at a restaurant that was highly recommended by Lonely Planet, all very healthy. The next stop was the Royal Delft Blue Factory. Because of its worldwide renown it was very crowded so we decided to skip the factory tour and just take in the opulent gift shop. After Judy and Kelly bought a few items they had them shipped home. We stopped in their cafe on the way out to sample their own brand of beer, Delft Brew. The final stop for the day was the new church, new being a relative term as it was begun in 1365. This was another austere Dutch Protestant Church, the one exception being the tomb of William of Orange. 
Dinner was in a nice restaurant just off the Market Square. Fighting sleep the whole time we managed to stay awake past 9 p.m.
Decaigny Abroad 