July 18, 2010
I am looking forward to heading home today after an unusually long trip. Looking back, the color orange has been a predominant theme of the past week. In Delft yesterday I learned more about the origin of the association of "orange" with the Netherlands, as in Delft we also visited the "New" Church (Nieuwe Kerk). This is where William of Orange is buried. His impressive tomb is shown in the bottom photo. William was the first king of the Netherlands and is considered to be the "father of the fatherland." In other words, he is a royal George Washington! He was a wealthy nobleman who unified the Netherlands and fought against Spain and King Phillip II in the 1500s. He was eventually assassinated in Delft in 1584, and the bullet holes are preserved in the wall (second photo from bottom). I had a hard time envisioning how those bullets could have killed him, because they would have hit him at the knee level, unless the present stair was located in a different position. But, as a foreigner, who am I to question this important historic site? Taking the orange full circle, I wanted to show the numerous "thank yous" (in this case to the coach) to the Dutch World Cup soccer team that are all over the country. Lastly, even the flowers at the Schiphol airport are orange!
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