Day 5 - Delft and The Hague

Note: At Central Station for a 8:39 train to Delft for a tour of the Porcelain factory.  Thought the access to and timing of the train were perfect....until we found that we were on the wrong train.  The train had been delayed and left on the same track and time of our train with no notice :(. Fortunately, a nice young man told us that he was also going to Delft and we changed trains in Leiden ( followed him like puppies)!  No harm/ no foul :).

We easily found the #40 bus stop; after a short wait, we boarded and paid for out tickets.  The driver promised us that he would tell us when to get off.  As we were leaving the station, a long flatbed truck carrying a long train car completely blocked the narrow turn lane.  Our driver was very unhappy!  four buses trying to enter the station were backed up.  Just another Englebardt adventure!  It was all sorted out, as they say, in a few minutes and we were on our way to the factory.  We spent several hours touring the exhibits, listening to the history of the blue and white Delft china, viewing the artists working on the hand painted pieces and shopping.  Note: we did not buy the hand painted art work...but did get some nice souvenirs.  Had coffee and pastries in the coffee shop overlooking a lovely garden and headed back to the bus to the train station. We chatted with a couple from Conn. while waiting for the buss.  The weather was turning bad...heavy clouds and light rain, so we decided to take the train to The Hague instead of walking around the town of Delft.

When we arrived at The Hague, we headed towards the city center in a light rain, saw some exhibits in the International Justice Center, and had lunch in a wonderful Indonesian restaurant.  It was a new experience for us...first time for Indonesian food!  A nice young woman in the info. Center told us that she wasn't supposed to recommend restaurants but told us where 2 were located.  Right on the mark.   We told the waiter that we had no idea what to order but wanted to try a variety of foods.  He pointed us to a special lunch that was perfect for 'first timers'.  Lunch consisted of about 10 small portions of rice, vegetables, meats, etc.  all were delicious ( I enjoyed the tea and Art enjoyed the beer :)).

We left feeling very satisfied and planning to see more of the city.  But....the sky opened, the deluge poured down and, despite our rain jackets, we were drenched.  It rained all the way back to the train station.  Our train left just a few minutes later and we had an easy and damp trip back to Amsterdam (where we found that it had rained all afternoon as well).  

We changed into dry clothes and socialized in the club lounge with some folks who are cruising with us tomorrow then packed up most of our 'stuff'.  Very much looking forward to the cruise, but sad to be leaving Amsterdam.  So much more to see and rapidly becoming a favorite city.

Link to pictures from the whole day...grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!