Saturday 9th May 2026

Woke around 0600…bad back. Sat up for a bit before managing to get back to sleep. Woke again around 0900. We decided to try the hotel breakfast. Buffet style…but very good. Aki enquired about moving to a room with bath instead of shower so that she can more easily bathe whilst keeping her injured knee dry…to my surprise the request was granted, and we moved to the room next door. 

Headed for the central station and hopped on a train to Delft…only a ten minute ride. Very comfortable seats…we realised we’d been sat in first class. Wandered around the streets bordering the canals in the town centre. Had a sit down at a cafe in the market square and enjoyed a coke before heading for the rendezvous point for the canal tour. 

There were about 40 ladies of a certain age all dressed in purple, sporting red hats…they turned out to be the internationally renowned Red Hat Society…there were loads of them roaming the streets! They all piled onto one boat and headed off, looking like a cargo of tulips from Amsterdam! Wandered across town to the Vermeer Centre...a museum of sorts, though containing only reproductions of the great man's work, in the former St Luke's Guild House, of which Vermeer was once head. Enjoyed a couple of modernist re-interpretations, and re-created a Vermeer with Aki as my muse. 

Wandered the streets and crossed the charming canals, and then made our way to the old Armoury, which now houses a steak restaurant. I enjoyed a very tasty, chunky fillet steak...Aki had the schnitzel. A waiter managed to soak a patron in lager at the next table! He took it all in remarkably good stead. 

Wandered down to the southern harbour for a beer on a barge bar, and watched the boats coming and going. Also paid one final homage to Vermeer, finding the spot from which he had painted his View of Delft. Took a train back to Rotterdam. Wandered north of the central station and found a bar in Provienstraat, an area that managed to survive the Nazi bombing campaign...sat out on the street for a beer before walking back to the hotel for a much needed bath!