By:Marcia Abramson
The next laps on the itinerary of the Renaissance Cruises shore excursion from the port of Amsterdam was a visit to Delft, the seaside town of Scheveningen, and amazing Madurodam.
On our drive to Delft, I passed a good number of the 800 to 900 remaining picturesque windmill pumping stations, each one an historic landmark. It came as a surprise to learn that even today in 21st century some of the energy in the Netherlands is supplied by environmentally friendly wind and water power. The first stop in Delft was a guided tour of the De Porceleyne factory, the manufacturer of the blue and white pottery that Delft is noted for the world over. The original was actually a coarse earthenware product patterned after majolica with a tin glaze from Spain and Italy. The Dutch were influenced by the Dutch East India Company porcelain imports from the Far East to produce a whiter and thinner porcelain copied from the oriental patterns. I also learned that Delftware is not only the ubiquitous blue and white colored pottery. At the factory I saw displays of Delft Black hues influenced by Chinese paintings on a black background and beautifully colored pieces in green, red and yellow Pijnacker adapted from Japanese porcelain with Dutch landscape designs of tulips and windmills.
Prices can be rather high, but are less costly at the factory than at the shops in the town of Delft. I was also given advice as to how to determine the real Delft by looking at the bottom of the piece for a three part small pot over the initial "D."
Strolling through the 14th century gates of the charming medieval town of Delft was a wonderful experience for my daughter, Jill Wasser, who accompanied me on the Renaissance Cruise. We saw the Stathuis, the Renaissance town hall, a fabulous structure adorned with stone lion heads, built around a Gothic tower of the 13th century. The Oude Kerk, or Old Church, is another magnificent building with many add-ons since it was originally built in the 13th century. The ornate clock tower added in the 14th century seems to be another leaning tower, an awesome sight with an exquisitely carved wooden pulpit with an overhanging canopy. I have never seen a floor like the one in this church. It is paved with 17th century tomb slabs, etched with skeletons and coats of armor. A simple slab off to a corner caught my eye, marking the burial place of the famous Dutch artist Jan Vanmeer and physicist Antonie van Lowuuenboek, inventor of the microscope. I learned from our guide that many of the medieval buildings were made of wood and thus were destroyed by fires or explosions. Only those parts of the buildings made of stone survived. This was also true of the Nieuwe Kerk or New Church which was built over a 150-year period, starting in 1383, with many restorations until its final completion in 1872 with the addition of a 300-foot tower added to its Gothic facade. The church houses burial vaults of the Dutch royal family. The most outstanding is the regal mausoleum of William of Orange carved from black and white marble with gold detailing and a sculpture of William in battle dress and the nearby sad figure of his dog, who died a few days after the monarch.
We then went on to Scheveningen, a seaside resort town reminiscent of Atlantic City before the gaudy glitter of gambling took over the once elegant resort. We had a delicious lunch at the imposing Kurhous luxury hotel which has its own gambling casino just across the road and a lovely sandy beach where topless and nude bathing are permitted. Incidentally, back in the 16th century the Dutch fishermen developed the best formula to marinate herring, still used today. Jill and I were fortunate to enjoy some of the first herring catch of the summer season at the Kurhous bringing back memories of our first trip to Amsterdam and sampling herring and chopped onions from a street vendor on the corner of the Anne Frank House.
We ended our tour of the environs of Amsterdam by going to Madurodam, a miniature action model of a Dutch city including the functioning seaports, airport, windmills, the bulbfields, the important building as well as a nudist beach. This fascinating model city was donated by the Maduro family to cherish the memory of their son who died at the Dachau concentration camp.
The destination oriented Renaissance Cruise line gave me an appetizer with a strong desire to return for the main course in Amsterdam.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
