Delft

While in Amsterdam, we decided to take a day trip and chose to visit the small canal-town of Delft in the western part of the Netherlands.  It is known for being the birthplace of the painter, Johannes Vermeer, and for Delftware, which is hand-painted blue-and-white pottery.  We took an hour-long train ride from Amsterdam and arrived in Delft by mid-morning.

Upon arrival, we couldn't help but notice the water in the first canal we passed was bright green due to an enormous amount of algae.  After walking around for a little bit, we realized ALL the water in the canals were covered in algae!! It looked like a green carpet and we both were cracking up as it was so unexpected and not what the pictures looked like online!  

It was much quieter in Delft and there were not many people touring around on Sunday.  As the town is quite small, we got to explore a lot during the time were there.  It was an easy city to navigate and it was nice being able to just wander around without the crowds.

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Delft City Hall

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Oostpoort

We had lunch at a cute little cafe called Barbaar.  The menu was completely in Dutch (the first place in the Netherlands where the whole menu was Dutch!), but with a little help from Google Translate we were able to figure out some of the dishes!  Ha!  We sat outside while we ate and enjoyed people-watching.  

The inside of Barbaar

It was a great little day trip from Amsterdam (even with the surprise green canals!) and the city itself was really pretty.  If we had more time, I would have loved to go to the countryside to see the windmills or in the spring to see the tulips.  Guess we'll have to save that for another time!