Delft

My Dutch roommate Jon gave me a nice overview tour of the university town Delft (where he studied for several years). Then, we split up for the day so he could get some work done and I could dive into some of the more typical tourist activities.

The town is not that large, but it's got a ton of history and beautiful areas. I toured its 2 huge churches (the "Old Church" from 1200-something and the "New Church" from a hundred years later -- the Dutch are not very creative with their names), even climbing all the way up to the top of the New Church (see pictures)! There's a veeery small old spiral staircase which winds up through the center of the tower to give access to the bells and lets you get almost to the very top. By the time you climb the 30 stories or so of stairs, you are certainly aware of how high you are, and when you lean over the railing, you get a healthy dose of vertigo.

I should also mention that the Dutch make really good food that's bad for you. I've had sizable "samples" of their cheese, apple pie (x2), ice cream (x3), cookies (x8?), stroopwafels (x3... so far), and a whole host of meat-based yummies (of which the locals have learned to never inquire about ingredients).