I'm always surprised by the things I find in my area. Even after living here for 3 years I'm still learning about new places that are right in my backyard.
Today C & I went to an artisanal market at a local Abbaye. I was actually surprised by how nice it was. There were a lot of vendors selling jewelry, books, flowers, artwork and of course food.
Everything was delicious and I wanted to take it all home with me. What was really wonderful were all the samples you could taste. Probably the most interesting product I tasted was a pâté made with chicken (if I understood correctly) with some jam. It was really good. So what did I buy? Dark chocolate cookies along with another cookie that is similar to a butter cookie but with chocolate chips, a range of soft cheeses (that right more cheese... like I really needed more after my trip to Gouda! lol!), truffles, strawberries, and a dark chocolate spread.
When I asked C what he liked most about the market he told me the fishing. The local Rotary Club organized a range of games for the children. It was really cool to see all the games they put together. The children could golf, use the bouncy castle, throw balls to hit a pyramid of cans, and fish for ducks. C did great and was able to catch 4 ducks. Way to go C!
On Thursday a couple of friends & I went to Gouda & Kinderdijk with the Travel Group. I've been to Kinderdijk with S & C but never to Gouda. I've wanted to see the Cheese Market for some time now but I've never been able to make it to the area the times we've traveled to the Netherlands. So this trip was perfect.
The city of Gouda (pronouced as "HOW-duh") is most famous for its Goudse Kaas Markt, where for over 300 years cheese has been traded. Here the cheese is weighed, tasted,
priced purchased and exhibited.
The centre looked beautiful with The Waag (weigh house) on one side and across it was the 15th century Town Hall and in the center cheese wheels...neatly laid out on the ground.
There were also a few people dressed in traditional Dutch costumes. There was even this cute little old man that was loving all the attention.
Watching the men negotiate was interesting. I wish I could have understood what they were saying because as times it seem like they were saying things that were funny.
Once they settled on a price or at least I think it was after the men settled on a price one of the men sampled a small piece of the cheese.
Here is a short video clip of the negotiation.
TheWaag built in 1667 was used for weighing goods to levy taxes. Inside was a huge scale.
At first my friends and I thought you could see how much you weighed in cheese wheels. lol! Peace Corp girl and I were all for weighing ourselves. I thought is sounded pretty cool. How many cheese wheels would I weigh? One, two, or maybe just a half. I had no idea. And unfortunately I'll never really know since they were using metal weights to measure.
Inside the Waag was a little cheese shop where we sampled a couple of cheeses. They were quite mild for my taste so we continued to wander through the market looking for other cheese dealers. One thing I noticed was how inexpensive the cheese is. You can buy a little ball of cheese for about 4 to 5 Euros. And of course if you buy more you can get deals like 3 balls of cheese for 12 Euros. It's a steal really considering these products are more like artisan cheeses.
My friends & I didn't go into any museums although we did walk to see an old working windmill that Blonde K told us about. On the way to the windmill we saw some really pretty houses along the canel.
Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations but the shop was open and we were able to buy flour and other baking products. It was pretty cool all the interesting baking items they carried.
I completely happy spending the morning walking around the market. I love taking in all the gorgeous produce and the variety of cheese was incredible.
Just walking around the market and sampling all the cheeses was a meal in itself. Back home I've only seen regular & smoked Gouda but at these markets you could buy young, medium, and old Gouda and then you have the Gouda that is flavored with Italian spices, nettle, nuts, or spicy herbs. I even found one made with basil which I knew C would love that is if he could get over the bright green coloring.
Of all the cheese dealers there was one in particular I really loved and I bought a ton... medium, basil & nut flavored, and smoked Gouda along with some fabulous goat cheese.
We also bought some delicious olives and Poffertjes, tiny puffy pancakes, covered (and I do mean covered) with powdered sugar and enough butter to make your heart weep. lol! But they were good and hot enough to burn your tongue.
Southern grrl M & Blonde K went into a bakery and bought a sinful little ball of merengue covered in chocolate for everyone to share. It was super sweet!
Before we left Gouda we did a bit more shopping. It's incredible how much less everything cost outside of Belgium. I found a pretty little basket that will be perfect for displaying baked goods and some glass votives that will make a great craft project with Lil' C. He's always talking about having a disco (that's what they call their parties at school) and I thought it might be fun to cover the votives with tissue paper.
I also bought C a pair of wooden shoes he could decorate himself and use out in the garden.
On the way back to the bus we bought some Stroopwafels, thin Dutch waffles witha syrup filling. They were nice & warm. Yummy!
Our next stop was Kinderdijk.
Even though I've visited the area before I still enjoyed seeing all the windmills. It's incredible when you think about how long these windmills have been around.
Before we left we had some lunch along with a bottle of Prosecco. I love Europe. lol!
8:33pm ~ Caught a glimpse of this beautiful sunset as I was driving home tonight. Our summer days are definitely getting shorter now that the sun isn't setting at 10pm anymore.
It's been a long day. I was up at 5am getting ready for a day trip to the Cheese Market in Gouda & the Windmills in Kinderdijk with some girlfriends. Came home with a great selection of cheese! Not to mention some wooden shoes for C to paint..
Have lots to share about my trip along with C's first day of school but I'm so tired it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Enjoy the sunset.
C's
been gone just a few hours but I already miss him. I think Snowflake is
going to miss him too. ;) The house seems so quiet. But I know he's
having a great time at school. He went to bed fairly early (around
9ish) last night which is excellent considering he's been completely
spoiled with his summer schedule. This morning C was so excited about
starting school he woke up early and was ready to start his day. He ate
his favorite breakfast and even had a little time to squeeze in an
episode of "Little Einsteins". He amazes me how he can identify some of
the classical music and tell me what movie they're played them in.
Before heading to school we took several photos to remember the day.
Yesterday
we tried our best to make some crepe flowers similar to the ones we saw
at the beach. They're lots of fun to make and you can get super
creative. As you can see we made quite a few.
When
I dropped him off at school he looked so big. He's no longer part of
the youngest class at school. My baby boy is growing up. sigh. As I
watched him walk into his school I got a bit teary eyed. I'm going to
miss my little summer partner. I love who C is becoming. He's such a
sweet, caring, gentle little soul. I'm happy to be his Mai.
We've
shared the sweetest summer. Six weeks in the US visiting family &
friends, playdates at Parc P, beach getways on the Belgian coast, and
hanging out at home playing and doing crafts. Fun stuff. Here are some
snapshots of summer 2009.
Who can forget my handsome little man in his tux. ;)
Chilling out by the pool.
Our collection of birdhouses we all painted while in FL. What fun we had decorating!
Only
the second time C has ever been to a 4th of July celebration. This is
his first time holding a sparkler. He's never been crazy about seeing
fireworks because of how loud everything is.
Looking for tadpoles.
Fun with Mema
C's great grandparents enjoying every minute with Lil' C
Having fun at the Central Park Petting Zoo.
Running around in Central Park with N.
C during the intermission of "The Little Mermaid" on Broadway. C absolutely LOVED the play!
Times Square at night. I'll never forget when C said, "Mommy, look at all the TV's!!!"
The Flea Market in Hell's Kitchen, NYC where C bought an angel pin. I'm convinced his cuteness brought down the seller's price.
Fun at the New York Botanical Gardens with C's cousin S.
The Chefs at cooking delicious meals with local produce from the New York Botanical Gardens.
Party Central at E's house.
Summer days at Parc Paradisio
Craft time! Making a stepping stone!
Lots of climbing and playing with school friends at Parc Paradisio.
There was more than one wedding in our family this summer.
Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Snowflake
Hanging out on the Belgian coast ~ De Panne.
Mini Beach getaway just the two of us.
Visiting the South Abbey Windmill after a fun day at the beach.
Jumping on the trampoline with Daddy & D.
After seeing all the pretty crepe flowers in De Panne C & I decided to create our own bouquet.
Another beautiful sunny day! And what better way to relax than at the beach with my little man.
As we made our way down to the beach I noticed a little girl with a bundle of flowers. My initial thought was "Wow, how cool. These kids are decorating their moat with flowers." Several minutes later a family sat next to us and I noticed these children brought flowers too. The kids started digging a hole and created this little stand with the sand to hold their flowers. It was really adorable and the flowers were beautiful.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in my previous beach postings are the shovels these kids use to create their sand creations. These shovels aren't your usual plastic little shovels - no way. Take a look at the shovel in this photo... that is after you look at the guy in his bikini. lol! Bikini's are a whole other issue. Why men are only allowed to wear bikinis at public pools is beside me. They say men must wear bikinis for hygiene reasons. I'd love for a native Belgian to explain this to me. lol! Back to the shovels... ;)
These shovels are just mini versions of real shovels. It was pretty cool to see how serious these families take beach equipment. I also didn't see too many sand castles being built. Most of the kids were busy building moats which were really fun once the tide rolled in. Anyway... back to the flowers.
I noticed several kids visiting with one another. I didn't really think anything of it since the beach is in a residential area. I just figured these kids all knew each other. But then I overheard one of the little girls ask the price of the flower. The boy told her it was 30 shells. It was then I realized these children were selling their paper flowers in exchange for seashells. I immediately asked C if he wanted to buy some flowers and we started collecting seashells. Once we collected a good amount of shells I encouraged C to ask how much his favorite flower was. There were two he wanted. The Flower Boy said the green one would be 70 and the other sparkly flower would cost 100 shells. As we counted our shells the Flower Boy told us something in French that I didn't understand but through sign language we figured out he only accepted a particular type of seashell. It was like a little clam with grooves on the bottom. Of course this seashell was in great demand that day so how we were going to find 170 of these little shells I wasn't sure. But believe it or not we were able to find 70 for C to buy his green flower. We'd have to work a bit hard to buy the other flower.
I've never heard of children selling paper flowers on the beach but I immediately fell in love with the idea. Luckily, the Flower Boy's father spoke a little English so I asked him a few questions about this flower making business. He explained that it's a very old tradition and existed even when he was a child. No money is ever accepted. Kids only sell their crepe flowers in exchange for seashells. It's completely up to the child to decide what type of shells he/she will accept for payment. The father told me had I come on the previous day there were children lined up all along the beach selling their crepe fleurs. What a pretty site that must have been! The father continued to tell me that because of the problems Belgium is experiencing with it's country being divided between the French & Flemish this game is an excellent way for kids to communicate with one another regardless of their language. Being that the beach is in the Flemish region it's a great opportunity for French speaking children to speak to their Flemish neighbors. After the father explained this to me I was completely enamored with this flower game. Especially because it's just so European. Flowers are such a simple pleasure here. They're not expensive and are easily available at the local markets.
C & I visited another flower shop on the beach and he fell in love with another flower. This one was 110 of the same type of seashells. Madre mia. I wasn't sure if we could find that many by the end of the day. As the tide came in we found or I should say I found about 75 more seashells. C was busy jumping off of a sand moat while I looked for more shells.
The woman selling C's flower came down to 90 shells. As the tide came in a bit closer it started to drizzle so I asked C to find out if she would take 75 shells. I mean it was getting later and I thought there might be a price reduction lol! Unfortunately, we couldn't find the woman. So we went back to our neighbor and tried to negotiate for another flower. Lucky for us he accepted our shells in exchange for 2 more flowers.
Although I think his father encouraged the Flower Boy to accept our offer since we were Americans and we would eventually be going back to the Etat-Unis. Both the Flower Boy and his sister were adorable. There is something about hearing little children speak French that makes my heart melt. When we left the Flower Boy's sister yelled to us, "Bye guys!"
As we drove away from De Panne I was a bit sad. Most likely this would be our last visit for the summer unless by some miracle we have another Belgian heat wave. I really did fall in love with this beach. In many ways it reminded me a little of the beaches my friend L and I used to visit in California. I've never liked crowded beaches so we'd head for the beaches in the residential areas. I've enjoyed De Panne for the same reasons. There aren't any shops or restaurants on the boardwalk and the parking isn't always easy but it's exactly the type of beach I love.
The forecast for Oostende last Wednesday & Thursday was... are you ready... in the high 80's! Which meant perfect beach weather. So at the very last minute what originally was going to be a day trip became a mini beach getway. I quickly booked a hotel and C & I were on our way to the beach. Unfortunately, S had to work and couldn't get away. We missed him but it was nice to have two days just for C & I to share together. One of my girlfriends back home has planned regular trips with her son ever since he was little and I just love the idea of doing something special that is just for C & me. So our tradition begins this year. ;)
The weather on Wednesday couldn't have been more perfect. I really am falling in love with De Panne. It was much more crowded than when we went over the weekend but it was still fun.
C loves playing in the water. He never got tired of running in & out of the water. It was like a game for him... when the tide came in he'd try to run away from it. Sometimes it would catch him and we would both laugh.
We stayed at the beach until about 7:30pm just playing in the sand and relaxing. By the end of the day the tide was so far out that it felt like we were walking a mile just to reach the water. It was pretty incredible.
Afterwards we went out to dinner. Don't ask me how I found this restaurant... it was sheer luck. It was a great little neighborhood restaurant with the local church right in front of us and ever 2o or so minutes the bells would chime and play songs. It was pretty cool. Of course no dinner would be complete without ice cream. By the time we checked into our hotel it was almost 10pm. It was nice cuddling with my Lil' guy and watching tv before falling asleep.
The hotel we stayed in was really pretty and the staff was so friendly and helpful. I was really craving a Mort Subite beer and even though room service was no longer available they told me they would see what they could do. Five minutes later... they brought me a nice cold cherry beer. But best of all the hotel had the most fabulous European style breakfast! The usual European spread is a variety of breads, coldcuts, cheese, yogurt, and jams. Which is completely fine with me but when a hotel goes beyond the classic breakfast it's a real treat! This hotel had a chef ready to take custom omelet requests or other types of egg dishes. Lil' C wasn't as impressed with the chef as I was but what he loved was the orange juice machine. It was a huge machine that held about 8 oranges at a time and as the oranges revolved you could see the juice being strained. C was really curious about how this machine worked and enjoyed seeing how the seeds were contained.
After breakfast we packed our lunch and headed back to the beach. The weather was bright and sunny but the wind was pretty strong so there was sand blowing everywhere and the water kept getting closer and closer to our blanket. Within two hours clouds began to roll in with a bit of rain and the wind became so strong it ws like a sand storm. So C & I left the area and had lunch. I was hoping the weather would clear up but no such luck. So we left. On the way home, I noticed a cool windmill. So we stopped in.
Our tour of the South Abbey Mill was fascinating. The windmill is one of only eight mills (of this type) that exists in the world. It dates back to the middle of the 16th century and catered to the milling needs of the abbey community and their guests. The windmill weighs about 50 tons and is 14 meters high. Each sail arm has a span of 12 meters and weighs 750 kilograms. The mill can process about 75 kilograms of grain per hour. To be able to mill flour the wind needs to be blowing with at least 4 Beaufort windforce.
I've never visited a working windmill before so this was a real treat for us. We couldn't have picked a better day for it considering how windy it was. It was very cool to see the sail arms spin which caused the inside mechanisms to spin and within a few minutes the entire windmill would circulate. I captured it all on video so once I figure out how to edit the clip I'll post it online.
Ok, I'm officially starting to get a bit freaked out about these spiders. This is the second one we see in our bedroom. And of course we find it right before we're about to go to sleep.
I had S grab my little camera just so I could document how big the spiders are in Belgium. And I'm not the only one who has them. My friends and I could have a contest about who has seen the biggest spider in their home. This one looks about 4".
I can't believe I'm actually saying this but... we're planning a day at the beach this weekend AND we plan to bring our bathing suits! lol! Whether we get in the water or not will be a whole different story. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so we'll see what happens once we reach the coast. I'm keeping positive. ;) Enjoy the Belgian holiday weekend.
Update:
We had a fantastic time at the beach! De Panne was beautiful. When we arrived what surprised me most was how wide the beach was. I didn't realize that De Panne is the widest beach on the Flemish coast.
C had lots of fun playing in the sand & of course splashing around in the water.
I'm not sure if it was because of the Belgian holiday weekend or if the events at the beach were a normal weekend occurence. There were a variety of things to do like bungee jumping and racing go karts. But if you really wanted to get adventurous you could take a seat in this car and then you & the car could go bungee jumping!
Towards the evening it started to get very windy. And even though the sun was still out it was starting to feel quite cold. So C & I kept warm under the blanket.
It was a great family day! I definitely wouldn't mind going back especially with all this beautiful weather we've been having.
No matter how many times I look at these photos I'm shocked they were taken in Belgium! I wish this good weather could last all summer long!
I was up late to begin with talking with my sister, surfing the web for potential tombola prizes for the international luncheon this November, and thinking about C's upcoming birthday party. When I finally made it up to bed what did I find sitting on my bed? A SPIDER... a 2" black spider on my white Matelassé quilt. Whaaa!! I didn't scream even though I really would have liked to. But the last thing I wanted to do was startle S and encourage the spider to explore my bed. So... ever so gently I woke S up and told him there was a big spider on the bed right next to his foot. S got out of bed very carefully and quickly grabbed the vacuum cleaner along with the transformer while I kept an eye on our little intruder. Right away S sucked him up and said, "It's that time of year again." Sigh...
Even though our little bedroom friend is long and gone I still can't get that image out of my head... a spider crawling & roaming around on my bed where I sleep. Ugh! I'm definitely not sleeping tonight or should I say sleeping in.
On the way home from the airport we found ourselves in back of this little truck carrying a huge stack of hay. "Welcome to Belgium" S told me and we laughed because this really is such a typical scene in the countryside.
It's been a little over a week since we returned from the United States. It's comforting to be back home but I miss my family tremendously. The transition has been a lot easier than last summer. The difference being the weather. The past week has been absolutely lovely! Lots of sunshine with a few days of temperatures reaching dare I say into the high 80's. I absolutely love it! What better medicine for being home sick.
With such gorgeous weather, who has the time to unpack? We've been enjoying going to Park P with some of C's school friends and a few playdates here & there. C & I found it so easy to live out of our suitcases but in actuality I just despise unpacking. S is the complete opposite. The minute we get home he begins to unpack. But really what's the rush? lol! S didn't make any comments about seeing our suitcases with things spilling out everywhere but on Friday he decided to take matters into his own hands and unpacked our suitcases for us. S knows I can't stand to see things in piles so it's forcing me to put my clothes and other items I purchased in the US in their proper place.
And after 7 days we've completely adjusted to the current time zone. The first few days were tough. C & I were up until the wee hours of the night (4am for C & 7am for me) watching Season 5 Project Runway episodes the first couple of nights. I love that C enjoys watching this show with me. We'll talk about the designers and guess who will win the challenges. I was sad to hear that the new season doesn't begin until mid August which means I can't see it. There were lots of cute shows that I'll miss like Drop Dead Diva, The Cake Boss, or Ina Garden's cooking shows.
In just a few weeks C starts school and we'll be getting back to our normal schedule. There is a part of me that misses my English conversation group along with the free time to meet with friends, exercise, and take part in some day trips. But I'm enjoying the carefree summer schedule with Lil' C. Hopefully if the good weather continues we'll go to Park P a few more times and if not I'll have to plan some fun, crafty projects.
