Feathers flying; Delft porcelain vases crashing; stroopwafel sales clerks screaming; bystanders ogling–Randy, our friend, quickly stepped forward to offer his assistance which was gladly accepted. Kathy had startled a pigeon by the door of the stroopwafel shop in Den Hague (The Hague) and it flew into the shop, swooping here and there and then flying to the large picture window facing the street filled with beautiful Delftware in the signature blue. The pigeon hit a large vase on a stand and it came crashing down cracking into a “1000” pieces. Randy slipped over the display barrier and gingerly stepped around Delftware. Towel in hand, he eventually ensnared the frightened bird and tossed it out the door where it took to the air with abandon. Applause ensued and the grateful staff gave Randy a tasty stroopwafel.

The Hague, The Netherlands Royal City, was our home April 14 and 15, after our wonderful stay in Amsterdam. Our hotel, a historic building in the center of the old town on a square around the city’s prominent church, was convenient to all the major sites. We enjoyed strolling the cobblestoned streets and loved popping into shops and places to grab a bite. The “vibe” was terrific, with people out and about. Being springtime, flowers and trees were blooming beautifully.

The next morning we took the tram, a short 20 minute ride, to Delft. We were in for a day! A storm blew up almost upon arrival. We made it to a quaint pub before the driving rain hit, then came the hail! We decided to ride out the storm in the pub and ordered drinks and bitterballen (the Netherlands’ national appetizer–balls of ground up meat, rolled and fried in bread crumbs). We had great conversations with other folks in the pub as we awaited the storm to pass, which it did. Delft is a beautiful city with old Dutch buildings and churches. The city square is quite appealing. We visited the new church, centuries old, to view to graves of the House of Orange, Holland’s ruling family. An interesting “trail” inside the church had markers and videos to explain the history of the Netherlands. (Holland is the largest state in the nation of the Netherlands and all the people are known as the Dutch.) We also spent time in the Old Church, the burial site of Johannes Vermeer, the great painter. An interesting tidbit–Dutch Reformed Churches do not have altars; chairs are arranged around the pulpit, the central feature of the church.

On April 16, we arose early to catch our flight to Nice, France. I took a quick glance at my emails and noticed I had a note from the airline saying due to unforeseen circumstances our flight had been cancelled. What to do? Our hotel manager quickly offered his assistance and within 30 minutes he had gotten us a refund, tickets on another airline–one of which we had never heard–Transavia, a subsidiary of KLM. He also got a taxi for us to the train station and tickets for the train to the airport–amazing. Transaviab turned out to be a great ride. We lost half a day at our destination, Nice, but we made it. Proper etiquette in Europe for trains is that exiting passengers have priority. Unfortunately, some folks from another continent tried to enter the train before those exiting could do so. They completely jammed the exit with huge suitcases and as a result many people trying to exit at the airport could not do so. Kathy, Randy and I were stuck on the train while Melisa was pushed out. The doors closed and we were separated. A kind Dutch youth told us how to exit the next stop and catch a train coming back to the airport. Eventually we were reunited with Melisa and proceeded on our day. We were thankful for cell phones.