Leiden and Delft

We also went to the smaller tows of Leiden and Delft, outside of Den Haag.

Leiden is a small but attractive university town that straddles the Rhine as it meanders through Holland. The river is split into a "Y" in town, with the center of town coinciding with the convergence. The University of Ledien is very old, having been established in 1575 by William I of Orange. It has been home to a number of famous Dutch artists and scientists both ancient and contemporarty. Rembrandt was born and went to school here (note his surname: van Rijn "of the Rhine"), painter Jan Steen was born here, as was Willebrord Snellius, of "Snells Law" fame- another important optics theorem you owe thanks to for everything from binoculars to fiber optic technology. Newton made great advances in optics, but the Dutch pretty much owned the field for a century leading up to him. Also, the "Leyden Jar" was invented here, shocking! (That last sentence was a double entendre. The Leyden jar was essentially the first capacitor, it stored electric charge. Hey- if Judi posts, you get wit and language. If I post you get physics, deal with it).

I also never knew until stumbling across several plaques that this is where the second Mayflower pilgrims lived before setting sail for the Americas (though they did make a a "pit stop" in England to use the bathroom on the way). There are some exiled puritans buried here who never made the second Mayflower trip, including many children, and several English language puritan churches were run here for quite some time. Several American organizations keep the graves, plaques, and American historical sites maintained. Pictures to follow, as usual.

Delft is famous for its characteristic porcelain appropriately named "Delftware". When you think of "fine China" you may think of painted blue porcelain dishes, possibly with windmills and flowers on it. That is Delftware. This is also a very nice town, and it is obvious that its main trade and claim to fame are its ceramics. The Royal ceramicists also work here, and we bought a piece from there. We wandered the town, meandered through the shops, had a great lunch, and at the end of the day we headed home.