TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

If you are going to imitate something, then you better do it well. Or perhaps, better? That’s the story in a nutshell with Royal Delft in the Netherlands, the porcelain company (Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles) with roots going back to the second half of the 16th century. The Royal Delft Museum and Factory for the 'Royal Delft Experience' tour. The Dutch weren’t the inventors of blue pottery. They learned this skill from Italian potters and copied Chinese-style porcelain brought back by Dutch seamen from the Far East through the Dutch East India Company (VOC – Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie), which by the way is the first publicly traded company in the world. If there is another thing than trade that the Dutch did was good, that would have to be being master imitators of porcelain ware. Demand for blue porcelain skyrocketed and before long enough business was doing very well that the company made investments of more than 32 factories in Delft and a number in Amster...

My long-time friend, Bubbles wanted to visit a city in the Netherlands that she hasn't been to. Well, that's going to be an easy task for me as there's a n abundance of pretty little Dutch cities. Most of them in fact I have already visited in my 15 years of living in the Netherlands. Lunch on the Markt at the Het Konings Huys. Bubbles had a few cities in mind but because we do not have the luxury of time, she has to choose only 1 Dutch city to visit. We have planned a whole month of trips for April. A road trip in the Balkans, a city trip to Dresden (Germany) and Antwerp (Belgium), as well as side trips to Amsterdam, the flower fields and around Utrecht. Bubbles picked Delft. For some reason, she has read good things about the city and saw nice pictures. The first thing we did in Delft after parking the car was to go to the Markt (Market square). The Markt is the living room of Delft. Here, one can find the city's Old Town Hall (Stadhuis Delft) and the N...

Dutchman and I love long walks, be it in the forest, mountains, fields or valleys. Unfortunately, we live in very flat Netherlands so there’s very little to imagine when it comes to the landscape. The start of the Kaapse Bossen walking route from Helenaheuvel. Our favourite weekend activity, that is if we have the time and the weather is cooperating, would be a walk in the forest and then sit on a café terrace or restaurant afterwards for some tea. It is a bit of a tradition for us, especially during the autumn months. Chalet Helenaheuvel Teahouse & Restaurant. This autumn we didn’t have a lot of chance to go out as we were busy with many personal matters to attend which I would like to share soon in my regular ‘My Daily Life in the Netherlands’ series. This hike in Helenaheuvel in the Kaapse Bossen took place last year. Dutchman and I have been here many times I have lost count. It is not too far from where we live so that’s one of the reasons why we frequent ...