Comunication Problem 04/25/2025

 Our travels today took us to Delft and Gouda. Our first stop was the Royal Delft Pottery Shop.  They have been creating iconic Delft Blue pottery since 1653.  We toured the museum and viewed all of the displays and videos that showed the development of Delft Blue products from 1653 to the present.  The staff was very pleasant and answered any questions we had.  We were able to view the workers as they molded the items and then painted them.  All the artwork is handpainted.  For a painter at Royal Delft, it takes ten years to receive the designation of Master Painter.  After the tour we entered the showroom.  Linda had gotten in before me and when she saw me, she said," Do not touch anything."  If you break it, you bought it. She said we would have to sell our house.  Needless to say Royal Delft pottery is expensive.  We then went into the historical area and had lunch.  The restaurant dining area was a barge in the canal. I did buy a Royal Delft refrigerator magnet with a windmill on it. Linda and Amanda also walked out of the store with Royal Delft packages.

Next on the list was Gouda, home of Gouda cheese.  In the middle ages the Van de Goude family founded the settlement of Gouda.  During the Middle Ages, Dutch cities could obtain certain feudal rights which gave them primacy or a total monopoly on certain goods. Gouda gained market rights on the cheese.  It was vey busy in Gouda today, so we just bought some gouda cheese and headed back to Abcoude.

I must share with you the following story in our journey.   When you say the word "eight" in the Dutch language, this sounds like "one".  We stopped at a Shell gas station at pump 8.  I had to go into the service station and present my credit card.  I told the cashier I wanted to fill up on Pump 8.  He scanned my card and Harry was getting ready to pump the gas.  The pump was not on.  At this time a truck driver approached us at our pump and told us that I had just paid for his gas.  We went back into the store and got with the cashier.  She already knew a mistake had been made.  She could not switch the charges, so she gave me cash to pay for the truck driver's gas. The truck driver said he was behind me when I told the clerk that I was on pump 8. He wondered why I was filling his truck up with gas. It  We were all very appreciative to the honest truck driver.  I was thankful for my language education.

Delft


Gouda

Delft Factory









Gouda cheese store



Lunch on the Delft barge

 

Harry and Amanda in Delft store

Delft painting

Delft Artist

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