Gemeente Rijswijk

Delft is historic due to its connection to the House of Orange. Given that I was in Rotterdam and but a few miles away, I simply had to visit. I set off for Delft at half 8, hungry and in search of some breakfast.

It took me all of 15 minutes to reach Delft. Strange, I thought, how you can go from a bustling metropolis like Rotterdam, drive for 15 minutes through green farmland, and end up in the perfectly whimsical town like Delft. Distances in the Netherlands are different. For it to work, they must have incredible green belt laws. Although the Netherlands vies with Bangladesh for the title of the most densely populated country in the world, to me it actually feels open and spacious.

Anyway, back to Delft: what a lovely town. Full of the normal Dutch charms of canals (and here there are many!), boats, bikes and houses that are more violin shaped than house shaped. On a drizzly Sunday, it was quiet and languid, with not many people out and about. Those that were tended to be in no particular rush.

Most shops and cafes were shut, posing me a bit of a problem given that I was in need of some breakfast. It took me 15 minutes of wandering around to find somewhere open. It was a smoothie bar, and looked a bit hipster, but I couldn't afford to be choosy. I escaped the rain and headed on inside.

There are 6,500 languages in the world, and I must make a point of learning the word 'egg' in each and every one of them. Ordering the 'le plat du jour' in Lille and getting a plate of eggs was a terrible, unforgivable mistake. It wasn't a mistake I was going to repeat today. So I asked the waitress what it was I was actually ordering (the polite thing would be to order without having a clue what). I settled for another ham and cheese toastie and green ‘detox’ smoothie. They were great, the smoothie especially. Feeling detoxesd, I headed back out into the drizzle and wandered round Delft for three and a half hours. A beautiful town, absolutely beautiful.Read more