The City of Delft in Netherlands. Not too far from Amsterdam. Known for Delft Pottery or Delftware and the unfortunate accident that leveled almost the entire town in 1654 – also known as The Delft Explosion. A gunpowder stash blew up and along with it, most of the town blew up as well. Quite a fascinating story and history don’t you think? Delicate, beautiful and easily breakable pottery on the one hand and a gunpowder explosion on the other.
Currently it is a beautiful little city with hints of the delightful blue Delft pottery seemingly at every corner. There are canals with flower boats, brick pathways, stunning and well-maintained green on and around buildings and a strong connection to Dutch Royalty. These photographs are from 2011 when I had visited and my touristy ambitions were short but focused. I wanted to see THE Delft workshop and see some canals. I made my acquaintance with this cute dog outside the Delft workshop. A short visual tour of my visit below.
Exquisite craftsmanship in the porcelain as well as the hand painted art on it. We bought cups and even jewellery. I drink wine in my Delft cup occasionally but I worry about how the water that flows in Indian taps would affect the cup in the long run. I regret not buying more. Might be just one of the excuses to get me back to Delft in the future!
It wasn’t a long visit. The flower boat and the Delft porcelain are etched in my mind forever. I spent about an hour in another porcelain store but was too shy to photograph any of it – most of the contents of the shop were clearly antiques because of the yellowed porcelain and many cracks in them. That was 2011 of course. Send me now and I will not think twice.
I still have many thousands of photographs from my trip to Europe in 2011 that have not been shared on the blog yet. I wish I had done something like #EyesForLondon for my Europe trip. But it would have been too hectic and impossible. Traveling with the whole family is not as romantic as I’d imagined growing up. Especially when it involves spouses and in-laws. It is best to follow a pre-decided itinerary, which leaves no room for personal tantrums later on. It works for a check-mark travel arrangement but not for the way I would like to do it : live in one place for at least a month to make friends with the destination.
