An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
(note from yesterday: while sitting out on the deck reading for a few hours, I was amazed at how many people biked by — old and young, many teams in their bright jerseys, couples — hundreds and hundreds on our little side street. Clearly the national pastime.)
Departed our restful suite and drove in search of Hoensbroek Castle outside of Heerlen. Naturally, the road was closed due to construction, but we bushwacked and found it eventually. Kind of a disappointment after all the castles we’ve absorbed, but nice to see how well preserved it is.
We then went to Maastricht, the oldest city (it had been a substantial Roman city, though very little of that remains) in the Netherlands. Nice old (1500s) section of the now-bustling city, though nothing one can’t see all over Europe. St. Servaaskerk, a very large, very old, church, was worth the few minutes for its grandeur and tranquility and its collection of antiquities. We lunched on two salads (chicken and fish) in a large square full of restaurant tables and umbrellas, with some periodic entertainment: we were perturbed by what sounded like a derainged preacher with a loudspeaker, but the waiter explained that it was actually a children’s puppet show; we (and everyone else) were also irked by the village derelict who stumbled around bellowing and then relieved himself (no.1, fortunately) on a lovely cobblestone street. Just like home. . .
We then motored off to Delft, with Wendy taking her turn behind the wheel. After much construction, and squeezing by countless trucks, Milton took his turn. Shortly thereafter, the world turned black and a horrific downpour errupted. Luckily, traffic wasn’t bad, the rain ended, and we pulled into Delft around 6. A small town, with even smaller streets, but not much traffic so finding the hotel, unloading, then driving back to the parking lot wasn’t as challenging as it first appeared.
This is definitely a neat place — really reminds me of Greenwich Village, but on the scale of a small town, and with lily-pond laden canals. The Technical University of Delft is evidently quite good, and it infuses the town with a college atmosphere (lots of night-life cafes, cd stores).
We dined at Rice and Spice, an Indonesian place. Though we thought our waitress was getting over a hangover, the food and service were terrific. Satays, won-tons, and a ristafel-for-one with soba-like very thin noodles, beef, chicken and spicy rices. Best of all, the rain had cooled things off so much that it was almost too chilly to dine outside. A nice change from lunch, where it was basically too hot to be outside.
We ambled back, stopping to window-shop for Royal Delftware and passing on the first Ben and Jerry’s we’d seen.