Day 9: Delft

  Last night, our tour arrived in Delft, a charming city in South Holland.  This morning, we went on a walking tour.

  There's something strange about the "Oude Kerk", or "Old Church", which was built in the 1300s.

    It leans.  A LOT.

      When they were building it, the foundation wasn't strong enough to support it, and it started to lean.  The builders tried to compensate for it as they finished each layer.  Today, the four turrets at the top are the only things that point straight up. The clock face at the top of it uses some optical illusions (one side is bigger than the other) to try to trick your brain into thinking everything's OK.  They don't work.

  The clock has a massive bell in the tower that is only rung on very special occasions... like when a member of the royal family dies.  That's because engineers are worried it could cause the church to collapse.  When it IS going to be rung, people living nearby are sent letters, telling them they have to evacuate, just to be safe.

    Inside the church is the burial place of Johannes Vermeer, legendary artist who died in 1675.

    Side note: if you haven't seen the 2013 movie "Tim's Vermeer", stop what you're doing and watch it now.  It's a fascinating, funny documentary (by Penn and Teller) about the mystery surrounding how Vermeer painted.  He was able to do things with light that no one else did-- light behaved like it does in photographs-- and there is one widely-held theory about how he did it.  In the movie, one guy with no artistic ability goes to unbeliavble lengths to try to prove it.

    Vermeer was from Delft, and there's a museum dedicated entirely to him.  We learned a lot about his life.

    Delft is also home to Delftware, the white and (primarily) blue pottery that's been made in this area since the 16th century.  It started as an attempt to copy something similar (made from porcelain) that was becoming popular in China.  Artists in Delft became so good at it, that Delftware became a craze.  Now imitation Delftware is made in China.

    We went to one of the few "real" Delftware shops left.  The fourth-generation pottery maker, who creates everything himself, led us on a tour.  The woman who runs the cash register does all of the painting herself.

    This is totally unrelated, but one thing you notice here is that people bring their dogs EVERYWHERE with them.  We saw this in a restaurant:

    Speaking of restaurants, we had Italian tonight.  This pizza had prosciutto, fresh arugula, and thin slices of parmesean cheese.

    Dessert: Tiramisu!

    We know we are back at the hotel when we see the giant lamp.