This is Nieuwe Kerk, the new church, located on the market square in Delft. It was built in the 1400’s. Many towns have both a new & old church. The old church in Delft dates back to the 1200’s! They’re all incredibly beautiful!

We are at the entrance of the Royal Dutch Delftware manufactory. The Dutch captured a Portuguese trade ship in 1602 that contained silks, spices & porcelain. The Dutch potters used the Chinese porcelain designs as a starting point for their own innovations. Three centuries later, they’re still going strong.

All Delftware is made by hand. From mixing of the raw materials for clay to the final firing. The website royaldelft.com is a good source for more info on the process.
BTW, the statue Linda is standing by in the previous photo is Proud Mary.

All Delftware is hand painted. Training to become a master Delftware painter takes 7-9 years. Steady hands must be required!

We thought we’d take the train to Gouda (the town) for the Thursday cheese market. It was Ascension Day (a holiday) so there was no cheese. However, it was the 1st day of the annual Gouda Ceramic Days. There were over 100 ceramicists selling their work.

The imagination of artists is amazing. These vases are made from plastic labels. It’s a bunch of origami shapes mounted on a used plastic container.

This artist fled the Ukraine 2 years ago. The challenges she's faced inspired her work. This cup "safety" will never burn your hands. The blue vase in the background is called "natural lines" - life still flows no matter what.

We took a little tour of the Gouda Cheese Experience since there wasn’t a market today. The cheese tasting at the end was the highlight. Lots of info, but a bit too touristy.

Still in Gouda. We’re at the Kamphuisen syrup waffle factory. The original waffles were made with dough scraps & crumbs & filled with syrup. They were invented for the poor who could not afford more expensive biscuits. We especially like tours that let us sample their products! Now, they’re two biscuits with syrup in between. Tasty!!

Looking down at the syrup waffle production line. One baker managed the whole process. Thousands of waffles are produced daily. Fun to watch the automation!

From the balcony where we watched the machines in action, there was a slide to the 1st floor. Linda’s being scout…she went first.

We made it down the slide without injury!
Interesting & fun tour!