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Friday
Last day in Delft. We weren't sure how to spend it. Do we stroll around town some more? Do we linger over a long lunch in a nifty cafe?
Well, both of us were intrigued by something called the "Delft Forest" in the papers that the owner of our house put together about Delft. We also had been given a handout on it from the Tourist Information center. She gave it to us when we said that we'd be in Delft for 10 nights, a long visit for tourists - who probably normally don't have time to visit it.
So, Dan researched how to get there and we walked to the "Forest." It was awesome. It wasn't really a forest, I'd call it more "wide open space, with some farming, some canals, and a lot of the great out doors." There were no houses, no stores, it was unspoiled nature, except for a walking path, bike path, a few beaches, a gorgeous farm, and a restaurants tucked into a nook and cranny. That was our destination. The restaurant. It was a great destination, since it took us into the area, along a great path, that was just gorgeous anywhere you looked. Up at the souring sky. Over at the green field. Left at the canal that was laughing as it trickled along in the sun. Right at the rolls of hay waiting for winter. It was flat. Very flat. The only change in level waste noticed one canal was higher than a partnering lower one. Beautiful. And, we had it to ourselves. We did see a few people, but not many. The occasional dog walker. The occasional set of kids playing in the fallen leaves. (The leaves were big yellow crisp leaves.) We loved it. It was fresh air, unspoiled landscape, and a great way to feel lighter than air and relaxed to the core.
The restaurant was really tucked in to the landscape. We nearly walked past it. Its "driveway" was small pebbles. Its entry way was a tree canopy with some tables and wicker chairs. It was like an English cottage, so sweet, it could be in a painting. We stepped inside. It was small. The first room had a bar on the right where the servers were bustling, and that room had 3-4 tables. Two tables were occupied, including one table that had 2 small dogs occupying their white haired owners, who looked like they had been coming to the restaurant for decades. The next room, was all windows, and had perhaps 6 tables. We picked on by the window, overlooking the view that was so enchanting (the path to the restaurant.) The view included: 1) a fenced in area that had goats, chickens, and roosters. 2) the outdoor seating area, that was dotted with round tables and wicker chairs. 3) The trees that watched over everything, providing a leafy breezy canopy to everything. Oh, it was enchanting.
We noticed every other table had "reserved" on it, so we were lucky to get a spot. Indeed, about 15 minutes later every seat was taken. We had found a secret place! There wasn't a tourist in sight. Most people were drinking coffee or tee, cupping their hands around their hot cups to let the warmth seep into their bodies to balance out the nip in the air outside. It was snug and warm inside, but the walk there was a tad chilly. I didn't have tea, but I had the soup. It warmed up my bones.
All the food they had was organic and local. I had a beef sandwich, and Dan had lamb sausage. We savored it. We got Sara a "toasty" which is a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. She liked it, but she really liked the brown bread and fresh butter. I also had hot chocolate. It was a roly-poly, happy meal, that was sprinkled with a heavy dose of magic due to the setting and the restaurant itself.
After that we walked around the lake. We only saw one other person on the whole walk. The walk took us past 2 beaches. One was a nude beach, and one was a regular beach. The signs that indicated which beach was which were funny, including some anatomically correct sun bathers. It was October, so there were no sun bathers. The beach was nice, with a swimming area roped off into the lake.
The walk around the lake was full of lake views, with sea gulls soaring high in the sky. It was also full of a hiking feel, where we took a path that wiggled its way through a forest. It was so much fun.
Before we left the forest area we found a garden walk that included some small houses (like sheds almost) and one garden for each house. We thought it looked like a pretty special place, with each house/garden getting lots of love from their owner.
Back to reality, we walked back to the town of Delft (it probably took us 15 minutes to get back to town) and did a little shopping. It was our last day, so buying somethings that we had been thinking about had to be done now or never. We got Sara some Hello Kitty socks at C&A, and also Dan some orange/red pants. Then we got Julia her first "Puppy/Turtle" item, of one of the Hello Kitty characters. What was funny is both Dan and I separately had the idea to get it, so it must have been right!
We also got a waffle (the guy had to make it twice, he messed the first one up), and strolled into to market place. Before going back to our house, we stopped at the antique store and got an Delft blue tile (they are famous for their blue) from 1736! Dan will frame it when we get home. It is a nice memory.
For the remainder of the day, Dan telecommuted (Friday) and I packed up. It took a while to get everything to a packing area on the lowest level of the house. It is funny how packing helps you find things! I found many of Sara's socks! And you really realize how much your stuff expands. And, you really realize how it is the odds and ends that really add up when packing.
We ate dinner in the house.
After dinner at night fall I took Sara out for a walk. It was "museum" night, and it seemed like a big event. People were walking around in costume, there were lights above the canals, and there were lights in balloons strung up along side the canals. Very festive. Sara and I held hands as we scuttled into the market place, under the moon light high above the church tower. We decided to get ice cream (not surprising) and she got a kids ice cream in a giraffe cup, and she said, "Can we bring some home for Papa too?" so we got some "to go" to share with Papa. I liked walking in the moonlit market place with Sara. People were walking to and fro, the restaurants were lit up with happy diners, the church's bell tower chimed happy tunes, and I was walking with our little girl. It was a life is good moment.
Before we went back to the house we walked along the balloon lit canals. Then we went into the house to share the ice cream with Papa. At 7:30 PM, Julia woke up from a 3 hour nap, and we all went out into the night. "Museum" night was in full swing, with happy people everywhere. Zooming by on bikes, strolling around on foot, and even some people in costume up on stilts! We found the "museum" night action, watched the opening ceremony, then strolled back to the house. Time for bed. A fun last day in Delft.
Saturday
We got up around 7:50, when Sara let us know she was up. We had oatmeal, packed, and packed some more. By 10:30 we were done. We had the big red bag, the green bag, my back pack, Dan's back pack, a shopping bag, 2 car seats, and a bag of beer. Oh, and two kids and a stroller. It was a lot of stuff. We looked outside. It was hailing. Odd. Snow? It didn't last long. About 2 minutes. And since it was so short all it did was make the streets a bit wet. We were going to take a cab/taxi to the train station, but the idea of jamming all our stuff into a cab, just to take it all out again actually seemed harder than just walking the mile to the station. So Dan got it all ready to roll and we didn't have to much trouble.
The first train ride was to Rotterdam. The second train ride was here to Antwerp. In between the trains we got a bit of food, conserving the last bit of cash we have. I sat with Sara on the train to Antwerp, Dan stayed with Julia in the vestibule with all our stuff. I had a great time with Sara. She talked the whole time, looking over at me with smiles as she talked (she can smile and talk at the same time, it is great), and I realized it was such a great way to spend time with some one - riding on a train. We looked out the window, we discussed ice-cream, and we did some tickling and giggling. The train's seats were full. Everyone else was quiet. We were the only ones having a Mother-daughter party on the trip. It was fun.
We walked from the Antwerp train station to our hotel. Wow. What a city! There were people everywhere. Like everywhere. It you looked at us from above it would be like more people scattered here and there - everyone walking somewhere, almost like New York city, but the boulevard is really wide and people were in the street as well as the sidewalk because it was a car free street. We loved it. The pace was electrifying. We found the hotel. They said, "Russell?" - yes how did they guess? We are the only ones who requested a crib and it is obvious we are the people with kids! Our room is great. We have a huge entry way, a bathroom, and two rooms. One for Sara and one for us. Very comfortable. It is a quad room.
So we left here and went out for more city exploring. The trip from Delft was 15 minutes to Rotterdam, then 30 minutes to Antwerp, so we still had a lot of day left. We wandered all over town, joining in with everyone else - there were a lot of people everywhere! It was a change from small Delft, where there are people, but not this many! And in Delft, everyone had a bike, and here there are 99% walkers and we only saw a handful of people on bikes.
We popped into some stores - very grand stores - with soaring gold ceilings, champagne bars, and high end items. We also popped into some atmospheric places, that shows that Antwerp has a deep history. We got pizza for dinner.
After dinner we did more walking. More enjoying. More seeing of great sights. There is a lot of marvelous things to see here, cathedrals, grand city-hall, fountains in squares, chocolate shops, waffle shops, restaurants with outdoor seating, and my goodness - a lot of other people.
We had both kids in bed by 7:04 PM. Breakfast starts at 7:30 and we hope to be there at that time, especially with day light savings it is really 8:30.
Tomorrow is our last touring day (Sunday). We fly home Monday. Sara asked "are we going home soon?" so the time is right. Sara wonders why there is no kitchen here. I don't thing she gets the hotel concept since we usually rent a place with a kitchen.
Good night! :) Lori
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