Three other girls and I decided to go explore the nearby city of Delft, which is known for Delftware. We took an early train and arrived 30 minutes later with the whole day to discover the city. We first ventured to the Oude Kerk, Old Church, which was built in 1246 and is known for its leaning tower. It contains 27 stained glass windows and is just breathtaking. We then headed to the Nieuwe Kerk, New Church, which is located in the market square. A neat quality about this church is that Princes, Princesses, Kings and Queens from the House of Orange are buried in the church. We each made some purchases of Delftware and were able to see an artist hand pant some delftware in his store. Unfortunately one of the girls, Sarah, dropped some of her delftware, and had to go back and repurchase some items.
It is wonderful to have a museum card that allows us to get into all the museums in Holland. We took advantage of this and explored the Prinsehof Museum. The building actually used to be used as a convent and it contains the bullet holes from the shooting of William of Orange. It was neat to be able to see artwork of things that I saw earlier in the day, and also that I have studied in classes. We happened upon another museum by accident, the Lambert van Meerten Museum. It is the house of Meerten that he built in 1892 and contains Delft pottery, paintings, glass, and furniture that was originally used. When we finished I asked the man working if he knew where the toy store was located. He responded "restaurant?" "No toy store," I repeated. He looked at me and responded "I cannot translate you." It was quite a funny conversation to say the least.
I feel as though I am really becoming an expert biker these days. Yesterday I woke up and was greeted by none other than rain. I had plans to travel to Amsterdam to see the Don Quichot ballet, and so I attempted to ride my bike to the train station. One hand was holding the umbrella, while the other hand was gripping the handle bar in order to keep myself balanced, dry, and somewhat presentable. Everything was going just fine until the wind decided to blow causing me to swerve left and right. It made things pretty difficult, but I made it in one slightly wet piece hah! The ballet was located in the Amsterdam Music Theatre. The performance was beautiful, and it was nice no translation was needed to understand it. I was so glad I took advantage of the opportunity to experience something that I wouldn't be able to in the States.
This Wednesday I am heading to a soccer game in Amsterdam.. USA vs. Netherlands. This Friday I am leaving for Italy for my spring break. I will be spending four days in Rome and three in Florence. I am definitely looking forward to this week :)
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