Winding Down

 My stay in Europe is winding down and, much as I love to travel, I am ready to go back home. It is Sunday morning and here in The Hague, we may have unsettled weather today. My trip has been blessed with good weather. The first two days were rainy, but since then most days have been sunny and pleasant.*

*by my standards which are possibly different (definitely different according to some people I know) from the standards of others. Often while other passengers were bundled up as if heading to Antarctica I was in short sleeves.

   On Friday I took the short 12 minute train ride from The Hague to Delft, home of Delft Blue Ceramics. With the help of Greta Google, I made my way from the train station to the old town center with its large market square. The square is book ended by the old Town Hall and the New Church. The square is lined on both sides with restaurants and shops. I am sure if the residents from centuries past could see their present market square, they would only recognize the town hall and the church. The New Church is quite interesting. It dates back to 1351 when Symon the Beggar is said to have had a vision of a golden church dedicated to Mary. Another resident, Jan Col, is said to have had visions too, and after much pleading with the town council, he succeeded in getting approval for the construction of a wooden church. A stone church was built around the wooden church and through the years the church grew in size. In 1536 Delft suffered a devastating fire, not an unusual occurrence in the Middle Ages, and the church suffered significant damage, notably the collapse of the roof. In the 1560s, any trace of the church's Catholic roots was removed. It was the Protestant Reformation and iconoclasm was the rule of the day. Since 1655, the church has remained pretty much the same with concessions to modernity such as electricity and toilets for the use of visitors and, of course, the gift shop. For 10 Euros, adventurous tourists can walk up 376 very steep, very narrow steps to the spire that stands 108.75 metres above the market square. The stairway is the only way up and the only way down from the spire and can be challenging when upward bound climbers and downward bound descenders meet. Suffice it to say, things can get intimate as passage is negotiated.. I will leave it at that. The view from the top is quite rewarding and affords the intrepid climber vistas of Delft and the surrounding area.

The church is still an active church with services every week. The crypt of William of Orange is located in the church and the church is still the burial place of the monarchs of The Netherlands. The interior of the church is classic Gothic architecture. Years ago, the stucco was removed from the interior walls thus exposing the interior brick walls again. As is typical of churches from the Middle Ages, there are many tombs in what was the sanctuary when the church was a Catholic Church. It is hard to read the names on the large floor stones that mark the graves because time has ravaged the stones. Also, hundreds of years of people walking on the grave markers have taken their toll.

   Yesterday was a good day to set out on foot to explore some of The Hague. I am fortunate that there are many restaurants close to where I am staying, so finding a place to eat breakfast is not a problem. Yesterday's breakfast was a delicious breakfast burrito at the Barista Cafe. After breakfast, I set my course with Greta Google for the International Peace Palace, only about a mile from my hotel. It is located in the International Zone and along the way I passed a few embassies including Vietnam's and Saudi Arabia's. The palace is an imposing structure. Out side the gates is raised lawn that is surrounded by a low stone wall perhaps 18 inches high. The lip of the wall is perhaps 18-24 inches wide and all the way around the wall on the lip the word "peace" is written in multiple languages. There is also an eternal flame dedicated to peace. People are asked to pray for peace as they walk around the flame. Lord knows we need peace, so I fervently prayed for peace as I walked around the flame. As a veteran of Vietnam, I am keenly aware of the futility of war. Leaders of countries may try to disguise war as police actions or special military operations, but the death, destruction, and misery created are not those euphemisms. They are war.  Please pray for peace and do what you can to make peace a reality, not just a dream.

I don't know if you can read what it says on the bench: Law Not War

I don't know if there is any symbolism involved with the the sun appearing soon after I arrived at the Peace Palace, but I take it as a sign of hope. While I was there, the sun played peekaboo with the clouds, maybe symbolizing how fragile peace is. Who knows if the world was in communication with me through nature.

   In the afternoon I took another walk and found my way to a park where I sat on a bench and decided to just be. It was very peaceful sitting in the sun. A few minutes after I arrived, a mother and her son arrived. The son appeared to be be three to four years of age and he had a model airplane that looked like it was made of plastic or some other lightweight material. Watching him launch and retrieve his plane was a joy to behold. Some of his flights were truly artistic, others not so much; but his joy was immutable. As I was leaving, he had one particularly artistic flight that thrilled him to no end. Watching him gave me great joy. Dinner last night was delicious, a filet steak at a small restaurant called Mammamia. There was a bit of confusion about my order, perhaps (likely??) created by my lack of Italian, so I waited a long time for my meal, but the food made the wait worth it. Not wanting to risk another long wait and cognizant of the fact that I have a plane to catch on Tuesday afternoon, I passed on dessert at the restaurant and made my way back to my hotel. The end of another very satisfying day.