To market, to market

After a long, hard week of partying and reading for class (my life is SO difficult), Rebecca and Jaclyn and I decided to hit up the weekly open-air market in the center of town.

At this bakery stand, we got fresh slagroom croissants--kind of like the Dutch version of cannoli. Nothing like a healthy breakfast.

It's so nice to see some blue sky again after a few days of snow/sleet/rain/hail/general meteorological misery.

The market could best be described as a teeny version of Rice's. (If you're not from Bucks County, just disregard that comment.) There was lots of cheap produce (I picked up a kilo of Pink Lady apples, an avocado, and some red peppers for just about 4 euro...yessss), abundant fried food, sausage and cheese stands, knockoff purses, pashminas galore, and the requisite racks of strange European fashion.

Deciding between two similar styles of 15-euro coats:

And the winner is...


Then we got some magnificent hot chocolate (and much-needed defrosting time) at the Blue Hand Pub in the town square. It's served complete with hot milk, dark chocolate chunks, and coffee liqueur. FYI: the Blue Hand--or more accurately, In de Blaauwe Hand--is one of the oldest pubs in Europe. It's been serving up brews since the mid-16th century. Nice. Lots of gorgeous dark wood and stained glass...expect pictures at some point.

At home, there's no time to do stuff like this--to explore and wander and have two-hour dinners with friends. It's good that I'm finally starting to take advantage of it.

P.S. I hate pretty much all things Valentine's Day, but in the spirit of the thing: someone in the Netherlands loves you!