Friday for lunch, my boss, Amelia, our Scottish visitor and I went to this great out of the way restaurant on a frozen marina. It was really neat to see. It was all ice and the boats were just plain stuck there. Beautiful and so neat to see! It was ice for as far as the eye could see. In the summer, the boat dock is full with boats. I would love to see it again when the weather gets warmer, that is if we can ever find it again through all the back roads and farm lands.
Our boss told us to try these suckers when we left the restaurant. They look harmless but he always gets this mischievous look when he wants us to try something "dutch" which usually means I am going to think its disgusting. And once again, I was correct! The sucker was filled with this powder: black and white powder, is the English translation. Think tootise pop: a disgusting powder that tastes like, what I would guess, the bottom of the ocean floor ground up and put into the middle of a seeming tasty sucker. I was weary, so my boss poured some of the powder into my hand to try (looked like that powder from those dip-sticks you think are fantastic as a kid) but this wasnt! I didnt even bother eating the sucker. Yuck, yuck, yuck! This powder is very popular here, especially with kids who eat it with their finger.
Frozen boats
My view for lunch...awesome!Friday night, Amelia and I took our co-worker to dinner out on Haarlem at XO, a restaurant we had been to the first week we were here. I realized after talking to her about all the stores, town square market and restaurants, hey, I really do know my way around this place! It was fun to be able to tell someone about my little Dutch town. Amelia and I both enjoyed her visit.
After having lunch and dropping her off at the airport, Amelia decided to nap while I braved the cold, but sunnyish day to walk around town and Im sure you can guess it....shop! The streets were crowded with people walking in an out of every store and stopping along the way for fresh fries or a stroopwaffel. I made it down to the market and took it all in. Vendors set up tents just for Saturday morning and sell everything from raw herring sandwiches (yuck, Ive still yet to try) to cheese, fresh breads, fruits, veggies, meats to clothes, scarves...pretty much everything you can think of. There was even a stand that made fresh homemade egg rolls, I was sold and for 1 euro, it was the best purchase I made all day! And what success I had shopping again, I again managed to buy nothing over 10 euros!
Saturday night, Amelia and I decided to get out of the house and treat ourselves to a fun dinner out. (What else is there to do when its cold and snowy.) A co-worker recommended a restaurant called Babbles. And of course, it was wonderful! Many restaurants here have nights were you play a flat free from anywhere between 20-40 euros (depending on how nice the restaurant is) for a 3 or 4 course meal. Each night the meal is a "chef surprise" or the chef decides that night what to prepare for that night. We had the 4 course meal which consisted of: sliced beef salad, these amazing wonton fried shrimp, beef tenderloin roast with roasted veggies, salad and fries and finally an assortment of icecreams/sorbets for dessert. It was really amazing food and fun to have a dinner like that. The plates are much smaller than in America, especially with a 4 course menu like this one. We had a glass of wine at a super neat wine bar before making the very cold journey back home. Crazy Saturday night I know!
Sunday the snow returned and it snowed and snowed for most of the day. We planned to go to a huge baazar, but I couldnt bring myself to spend the day in the cold in snow. The big trip of the day was to the grocery store, which we actually made twice...in the SNOW! Yeah, we didnt know the grocery store didnt open until 4pm on Sunday, which was not helpful for us when we went to get stuff to make lunch. We braved the cold much more successful the second time and got groceries to last us a couple of days. Being on a Mexican food kick again, I made some yummy veggie fajitas last night! It was more of an experiment based off some that I had at a restaurant in Haarlem (sauteed in red wine) and they turned out SO delicious. Im getting hungry just thinking about them. I brought the leftovers for us to eat for lunch today....I can only imagine what these Dutch folks are going to think. (I explained to them last week that I made breakfast tacos and they thought that sound like to most disgusting thing they have ever heard! They can have their black and white powder....Im keeping Mexican food)
Huh....I sure did manage to write a lot for not doing anything this weekend :) (and alot about food again...oh well). Stu arrives Saturday, so next weekend will be filled with adventures and pictures! So fun. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...happy Monday!
al mijn liefde
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