Week 10 Cultural

This week we took part in the ‘Tour to the West’ which is a compulsory component of our Dutch Culture and Society Module.  The ‘Tour to the West’ is a weekend trip that enables us to visit other cities in the West of the Netherlands.  During the trip we would be visiting the cities of Delft, The Hague and the up rooted village of The Zaanse Schans.

The famous Delft Porcelain

On Friday morning we left for the city of Delft, it was here that we would be taking part in a photography challenge that would help us to get to know the city better.  The first piece of information that we found out about Delft is that it is famous for its blue and white pottery.  The blue and white porcelain has been made in the city since the 1600s. There were many souvenir shops selling Delft pottery and around the city there were monuments and bricks made out of this blue and white porcelain.  The day continued with trips to both the Oude Kerk (Old Church) and the Nieuwe Kerk (New church) which included a 356 step climb up a 108.75 metre tower on the New church that gave us an amazing view of the city of Delft. 

Michelle and I on top of the Nieuwe Kerk

On Saturday we travelled to The Hague where we would be taking part in a treasure hunt to help us explore the city.  In The Hague we got to go and visit the ‘working palace’ of the of the Dutch Royal family.  This palace is called Noordeinde Palace and it is the Queen’s workplace and office for all political and affairs.

Noordeinde Palace

Sunday we left our hostel and travelled towards the Dutch heritage museum called Zaanse Schans.  The Zaanse Schans is a replicate village that shows how a typical Zaanse village would have looked like in the 17^th and the 18^th century; however it is still a functioning hamlet in which people live in. Our tour guide referred to the village as “the perfect way to view the historical heritage of The Netherlands”. 

Zaanse Schans

Trying on Green clogs

During our visit to the Zaans Schans village we were given a demonstration on how to make cheese and how to make wooden clogs.  I was really interested to see how clogs were made as they are something that I would consider ‘typically Dutch’.  The website Iamsterdam (2013) states that “clogs have even been certified by the European Union as safety shoes as they can withstand sharp and heavy objects and concentrated acids”. At the beginning I found this quite hard to believe but after the demonstration I was able to witness the strength of a clog.  During the demonstration it was fascinating to see all the different clogs that would have been used for different circumstances e.g. farming, family functions and even clogs for kids.  I also learnt that brides carved their own wedding clogs to make them individual and that they would wear them for the first time on their wedding day. During the demonstration we were told that it would take two hours to carve a pair of clogs by hand but now with the help of modern technology a pair of clogs can be created in under five minutes.

First Albert Heijn Grocery Store

After this we also got to see the first  ever ‘Albert Heijn’ grocery store , this was very fascinating to see as Albert Heijn at the moment the biggest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and it was very interesting to see where it all had originated.

Overall I had a great weekend at the ‘Tour to the West’, both night and day was filled with fun and adventure and it was a fantastic way to get to learn more about the culture and history of The Netherlands. 

References

Iamsterdam (2013) Clogs – Traditional Hand Crafted wooden shoes available at: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/experience/about-amsterdam/history-and-society/clogs accessed (15/04/13)