I'm Now Poor...But Not Hungry!

This is a giant stoopwafel. They are my FAVORITE! It’s basically syrup sandwiched between two very thing waffles. It’s a little slice of heaven. This is the biggest stroopwafle I have ever seen. I think I am in love.

Kelly and I went down to Delft for the day. I have some very good family friends that live there. That’s to put it lightly. Either way, I wanted Kelly to meet them and to see the beautiful little city. We got their daughter and their exchange student from Pennsylvania to take us around the city. It was fun to meet another American braving the Dutch world and doing a great job learning the language! I can relate! The weather wasn't great and we ended up getting rained out before our tour got too complicated, but it was still enjoyable.

This is a picture of the New Church. It is only 700 years old compared to the Old Church which is 800 years old. These Europeans! I absolutely love stained glass. This picture doesn't quite demonstrate the beauty, but definitely the size of the windows. I liked the more subtle colors. Prince William of Orange is buried in this church as well as many of the other royal family members.

This is the Delft town hall. Gorgeous building. Note the grey sky. It seems to be this country's favorite winter time color.

The houses/buildings surrounding the square. I just love the traditional architecture!

This is our friend's youngest daughter, me, and their exchange student from Pennsylvania on a cute bridge over a typical, quaint Dutch canal.

Kelly and I on the street. We have very few pictures of us together so we took the opportunity of having friends around to get one of us together. Very cute!


Our morning started with a visit to the Royal Delft pottery factory. Below is a picture of their sign in the front of the entry room. The design is their unique signature that is on each of their hand painted pieces of work.

Ok, Delft Blue pottery: A very traditional form of pottery. The blue color is their signature style but they also have other colors as well as black. They have a very long history starting in 1697. They also make dishes for the royal family. Every piece is hand painted, initialed, and numbered. Each design is only in production for a limited time which makes all of their pieces very unique. Kelly and I took a tour of their factory and spent quite a long time enjoying their gift shop. Damage was done. I'm now poor. I enjoyed every minute though! The above picture is of a man hand painting a giant pot. To his right you can see the picture of which he is painting from. The type of ceramic they use is very porous so the paint is immediately absorbed and no mistakes can be corrected. They have to study for 7 years before they can become master painters. It's an amazing talent!

This is a painter at work. He is working on a giant pot, I would never have the patience! You can see the picture to his right that he is copying. I don't know how they do that! I guess thats why they need 7 years to learn.

This is wall of some of their Christmas plates that they create each year. Every year is something different. We didn't find the oldest plate on the wall, but they covered 3 walls so I know they have been doing it awhile.

This is me in front of a GIANT Delft Blue tile wall. The picture copied from one of Rembrandt's paintings. Their craftsmanship is amazing!

I had to get a picture of the Delft blue cow. Granted, the cow is not porcelain, but on the cow's head is the Royal Delft blue signature.

At the end of the tour there is an amazing gift shop. Kelly and I spent a few hours in there and walked out with our credit cards melting in our purse. We definitely put them to use! The lady who checked us out actually hand painted the plate that I bought for my mother. I thought that was a very neat touch. I should have gotten a picture of her with the plate, but I didn't think that fast. Next time!