In another of my little series of finding little quiet places in the middle of towns, I am going to introduce you to the Botanische Tuin (Botanical Garden) of the TU Delft (Delft Technical University). Now, Delft is quite a famous tourist town that isn't so far away from where I live, and quite close to Den Haag (The Hague). It is best known for its famous Delft pottery from the Dutch Golden Age, the blue and white porcelain that appear to be at least partly inspired by discoveries in Asia.
Now, TU Delft is best known as a Physics and Engineering school, with many accolades in those fields... even despite a recent scandal in the Quantum Computing faculty.
The Botanische Tuin is off the main campus, and for some reason is located next to and behind the what appears to the be Robotics faculty!?!??!... weird synergy?
It is quite strange that such a beautiful entryway into the garden is marred by the weird poster on an internet/communications box that advertises the location of the Tuin. I mean, just take the effort to move the box (or the entry) and make a nice looking sign for the Tuin!
That said, once you are past the initial shock of such a terrible looking entrance sign, you walk down the entrance path into the garden entrance. Of course, it is fronted by a little gift shop (and in the Corona times, it is doubling also as a registration spot for visitors in case there needs to be contact tracing done).
On the day that I went, I was here for a outdoors garden concert... I can't be thankful enough for these little outdoor concerts that are taking me to places that I wouldn't have discovered on my own accord. Whenever we come to Delft, we are staying in the more familiar areas of the Old Town, the station... and sometimes IKEA. This is much more pleasant!
The gardens themselves, are not that big (by Australian standards), but there is more enough in the way of paths to just take a little stroll around and sit down somewhere away from the noise of the town. However, if you are looking to have a pleasant long walk... you will be sorely disappointed, as you will quickly run into the fences that surround the little garden.
Remember, this isn't really meant for public walks or anything like that... it is meant for the university to have a place to grow plants for studies.
A few shot of the short walk that I had, before moving onto the eating area!
There was a pleasant "safari" decor open shed that would in normal times serve as a bar and cafe area. It looks like the perfect place to come and have lunch or an evening borrel... as long as there weren't too many people with the exact same idea!
A little towards the back of the Tuin is the abortorium and the covered growing areas. I assume that these are really the important working parts of the Tuin, in which they fulfil their purpose for the University. However, these are not areas that appeared to be open to the public.
So, if you are in Delft... and are looking to get away from the tourist crowds in the centre... this could be a nice place to walk to! It is about 15-20 minutes walk, but it is worth it to bring a book and to find some peace and quiet!
