Part I: An Expected Arrival
[This post contains a LOT of pictures, it may load slowly. Because of this, it's going to be split into separate posts]
Eight months to the day from our arrival in the Netherlands, we got to host our first US guest! You either know Nathan, or you'll know him as Christopher's longtime friend, cohort, best man at each other's weddings, and all around Star Wars nerd.
We picked Nathan up at Schiphol Airport on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Usually spotting him is easy - just look for the tallest person! - but in the Netherlands? Lots of tall people here, he fit right in. After our hugs and hellos, we all hopped on a train to head into the city proper. Or, tried to. We took the wrong train, ended up who-knows-where, saw some cute buildings, and had lunch. Then headed into Amsterdam. We took in a few sights - Central Station, the canals, boats, buildings older than the US - and popped into a tiny shop to have fresh poffertjes and stroopwaffles. And we did find the most beautiful, ballroom looking Starbucks, in the central station, no less, which we took a peak at (Nathan is a Starbucks barista by day, international singer by... well, one week a summer, more on that later). Then we were back on the train, because Amsterdam was a mere blip of a stop, and the real tourist destination was Delft.
We booked an airBnB and spent the first night in Delft, since it was (somewhat) on the way home. We hadn't been there in 3 months, and were excited to see it in the summer. When we left, there were a few buds on the trees but very little greenery, so this was a much anticipated sight.
Oude Kerk was still doing it's lean, the construction at the apartment where we'd lived was complete, and everything was green and lively. In some places, literally green and lively - a few canals were brimming with algae blooms, lily pads, or both.
Our airBnB host told us the door code was the year the building was built, 1650. Wow.
We slept at Ye Olde Air'Bnb, and the next morning headed around the corner to Cozy Cafe for breakfast (I remembered to bring our stamp card, still holding out to get a free coffee, lol). We sat and enjoyed our food and drinks until it was time for the activity I'd planned.
Firstly, shout out to the guys for being good sports going along with this. I'd booked us the "escape route" at Oude and Nieuwe Kerk. One thing I've learned about the Netherlands, these folks love a good escape room. Instead of a typical tour, one option for seeing the historic churches is by playing the escape route experience. You are given a single starting clue, then off you go, pointing to different places in the first church, then town, and eventually you end up at the second church. We took our time dillydallying about, I wanted to make sure we all got time to take in the sights and read the placards in the churches without rushing through just the activity, plus the website said this should only take 70-90 minutes. But in my quest to make sure we didn't feel cheated out of really seeing the churches and not just skimming through looking for clues, I did end up cheating us out of finishing our quest.
I'd arranged with the airBnB host to be allowed to leave our things at the house until 2pm, so we weren't lugging backpacks and a suitcase through our sightseeing. But despite starting at 11:30am, 2pm was fast approaching, we hadn't even been to the second church yet, and there was still the finale of our tour to complete - climbing the 376 steps to the top of Nieuwe Kerk, the second tallest church tower in the country (the tallest being in Utrecht, both constructed by the same builder).
So we unfortunately did not solve The Mystery of the Iconoclasm, but we did have fun. We took a peak around Nieuwe Kerk, then ascended the tower.
A little about Nieuwe Kerk (New Church):
Standing at 108.75m, or 357ft tall, you can see Rotterdam and The Hauge from the tower on a clear day. Construction began in 1396 but took an entire century, only being completed in 1496.
The top of the tower is blackened by burn marks, having been set ablaze twice by lightning strikes.
The tower was used for conducting gravitational experimentation by Flemish scientist, Simon Stevin, in 1586.
The Delft Explosion, or Delft Thunderclap, destroyed much of the city in 1654 when a gunpowder store exploded (I guess our airBnB survived, have only been built 4 years prior). The explosion blew the roof off of the church and destroyed it's stained glass windows. It also killed Rembrandt's most promising pupil, Carel Fabritius, and nearly all his artwork was lost.
Originally a Catholic church, at some point it became Protestant.
Members of the Royal House are and continue to be buried there, with the lastest royal funeral having happened in 2004.
We climbed all the way up, then of course all the way back down, totaling 752 stairs. Is that what they mean by "getting your steps in"?? There are a few landings along the way, so you aren't stuck in a claustrophobic constant upward spiral the entire time.
This post is so full of photos that I will have to end it here. To be continued...