Delft: More than just Pottery!

Last weekend, Brent and I decided to go to Delft for the day. Delft is famous for its pottery, an intricate blue and white style (a rip off from Chinese pottery that then became known as Delft pottery). We anticipated a couple of hours looking at the town and some pottery then head home. However, when we arrived in Delft we found out it was Theater Weekend and there were all sorts of festivities going on!

Potter's hand and some bikes dredged from the canal

The first attraction was right outside the train station. It was two guys dressed in suits dancing around an old soviet-style car. There was some music on and they were doing an interpretive dance of cold war era CIA secret agent getting Russian intelligence type of dance. It was awesome and by far the best interpretive dance I have ever seen.

In the main center there were all sorts of attractions: magicians, dancers, singers, sculptures, etc. While walking down one of the streets, suddenly around the corner came a group of people dressed as big bugs. Some were even on stilts! They were running away from the "exterminator". It was interesting and a bit creepy too.

One of the oddest, but coolest things, was a guy on in-line skates with a jet pack on his back. Yes, a JET PACK! He raced down the streets with a loud roar coming from him. You'd never be able to just rock up and do something like that in the busy streets of the US. Gotta love it.

We also discovered that Delft has awesome markets! In Leiden our markets are pretty much just produce with some clothes and etc. stuff but Delft has an array of antiques and really cool trinkets. I got a fun hat, a clog thermometer for my Dad, some cartoon puppets for the nieces, and a cool Frangelico set of Monk and cups for Brent's Aunt. It was so fun to walk through the markets and see all the stuff.

Loved this guy at the market in clogs!

We printed out a map and took a walking tour of the sights of the Dutch East Indies Company. It was based out of Delft so there was a lot to see! We some of their individual houses, the storing house, trade house, headquarters, etc. It was really interesting and nice to throw a little history in with the day - I always like that!

The trading house of the Dutch East Indies Co. and us at the Princenhof

When it got dark (which isn't until after 11 pm here), the main show was put on. It was an opera type of thing. I can't really say because there were too many people for me to be able to see. That is the one drawback of living in a country of gigantic people! I did get to see one thing, which was definitely the best part of it! There was a crane set up that raised the "clouds" of the performance. They danced around in the sky while suspended from the crane and went through the seasons. It was certainly entertaining and a great way to end a great day in Delft!