Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
November 03, 2014
From Amsterdam we hopped on a train for an hour along to the small town of Delft just near the Hague. We don’t have long in Holland, just 9 days but wanted to make the most of it and venture further out than Amsterdam.
As the train neared Hague Cenral station the brakes were suddenly locked on and the train snaked around struggling to stay on the tracks. Something had definitely happened and once we finally made it into the station all other trains out of the Hague had been cancelled. Great. We had to be at some guys apartment in an hour to meet him and we didn’t have a clue how to get to Delft without a train but eventually through speaking to a few people we hopped on a tram and were making our way through streets and small villages towards Delft.
We arrived and were pleasantly surprised to find that the apartment was only a five minute walk from the station, on the main canal that runs through the old town of Delft. Once sorted with the bags we headed out in search of some bars and the local coffeeshops. At night the town is lit up in the center. Fairy lights adorn the canal sides and the trees and it’s a really pleasant little town to wander around in. It’s very small but has bags of character. A million miles away from non-stop Amsterdam. Like some medieval village that time has forgotten about. The bars are beautiful. Small and cosy with a great selection of both local and imported beers and we really enjoyed the local coffeshop. Compared to some of the coffeeshops in Amsetrdam this one was very much a local place. It was like a local club for stoners. Nice and comfy inside, a couple of well looked after pool tables and although the menu was fairly basic the smoke was very good quality and around half the price of Amsterdam. Safe to say a very pleasant night was had indeed.
The next morning I was up early, and as Dani slept I headed out with my camera to grab some shots with the early light. The place was nearly deserted but looked beautiful with all the trees turning a deep shade of gold. As I returned to the flat and tried to unlock the door Dani opened it for me and at this point our one full day in Delft seemed to fall apart. Somehow in the process of trying to unlock the door and Dani opening it at the same time I managed to lose the keys. I don’t know how but as we came to head out together that morning the keys were no where to be seen. The flat was big and empty with no real places for the keys to go missing in but after searching for two hours we found nothing and had to message Mig the guy who’s flat it was. He couldn’t get a spare set to us until around 6pm so we spent our one full day sat around the flat, prisoners of my own stupidity.
Once out though we had a great night, spent mainly in one local bar that was exceptional for good ales and beers. Another trip to the local coffeeshop and our full day had suddenly flown over. The next morning we headed out early to explore the town a bit more and to make up for what we missed out on the day before. We decided not to move on to Utrecht until late afternoon so at least we could make the most of the time in Delft. It really is a beautiful small Dutch town and one that we will visit again, next time hopefully in the summer when the weather is nicer and we can sit out in the town square and have a few beers in the sun. Holland is so much more cultured when it comes to such things so at some point we would like to spend a bit more time here, maybe a month or two. Who knows I guess.
Next stop is Utrecht. Back to another big town, let’s see if it differs from Amsterdam.
