Christmas Markets in Haarlem, Netherlands

This past weekend, December 14 and 15, 2013, Andrew and I spent in our hometown of Haarlem. We decided to stick close to home because there was so much going on in town.

Saturday we walked around town and enjoyed the feeling of excitement in the air with the pending events of the weekend!

Sunday, we enjoyed the festivities while walking through town.....The Christmas Market was open all day!

First off, we were greeted by "Angels"  from Hout Zuid Haarlem!

 We continued down the Grote Houtstraat:

 entertainment....Haarlem style!

 We went home for some lunch and to rest up a bit before going out again!

 There was a choir performing Christmas carols in the Stadhuid (City Hall)......the acoustics made the music sound soooo beautiful!

 More singing!

 We stopped to get a tree on the bridge over the canal...and then we carried it home!

Our reflection.....carrying our tree home!!!

After we dropped off our tree at home...we walked back into town and saw.......The Haarlemse Muggen:

Haarlemse muggen (Haarlem mosquitoes)
Inhabitants of Haarlem are sometimes jokingly called ‘muggen’ (mosquitoes). It is not exactly clear where this originated from, the word ‘mug’, however, was used as a swearword in the 14^th and 15^th century. Another theory is that it originated from the fact that there used to be a lot of mosquitoes in Haarlem. Other explanations are that Haarlem inhabitants were known for their ‘muggenziften’ (nit-picking) or refer to a saga about a witch who would supposedly transform the inhabitants of the city into mosquitoes if they did not listen to her.

More entertainment!

Real reindeer!

 We went by the Havana House Cigar Shop where they were doing old fashioned shaves....

 There was a sword fighting performance!

 and afterwards, Andrew stepped inside for a smoke with the Mayor (Burgemeester Schneider)!

 It starts getting dark around 15.30hrs. now....soooo, the lights went on early!
More entertainment.....the young man on the right was playing bass with a rope attached to a tub!

and another band playing down the street....

Sausage made from horse meat....

Dinner with Carla and Theo

This past Sunday, after the visit from Sinterklaas, we went to Hoofdorp to have dinner with our friends Carla and Theo. They had invited a few other couple also as Carla made a traditional Portugese fish dish for us all to enjoy. She had been cooking since 0530 that morning!

 Theo opened a special bottle of wine which was made by a friend......it is made from rhubarb! It was delicious!

 Traditional Portugese wine was served....

Thanksgiving Netherlands Style!

This year, to celebrate Thanksgiving, we were able to spend the Saturday evening after Thanksgiving with our good friends, Bruce and Linda. We had decided to go out to eat at a restaurant rather than spend all that time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning for just four people.

Sooooo, Bruce made reservations at La Foule Restaurant in Haarlem. What a cute place, tucked away  on a little street in town.



We each started with a drink...Linda had a martini and Bruce, Andrew and I decided on a glass of sparkling wine which was very tasty!

For dinner we each had a starter...Linda and I both chose the salad with goat cheese, fresh crisp apples and beets, which was delicious!

For dinner, Linda and I both chose the Orange Duck. Oh myyyyy, it was delicious. Cooked to perfection and the sauce was perfect! It was served with a small portion of squash and some potato.
Bruce chose a nice red wine for all of us which went nicely with dinner.

While we were eating, we had live entertainment:

For dessert I had the creme brulee which was also delicious!  It was a perfect dinner with good friends!  We are very blessed!

Sinterklaas is coming to town!

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet decorations are seen all over Holland this time of year. The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th every year.

Tradition says that Sinterklaas rides a white horse and brings with him his helpers (whose faces are covered with chimney soot from listening to find out if the children have been bad or good) called Zwarte Piet.

Andrew and I, unfortunately, missed the arrival of Sinterklaas into Haarlem a week and a half ago. He arrives on a boat from Spain...and children are told that if they are not good he will put them in a sack and bring them back to Spain with him when he leaves!

We saw this man riding around on his bicycle last weekend:

While walking through town we saw many young people dressed up as Zwart Piet going around town on roller-skates!

This past weekend Sinterklaas made another appearance  in the Houtplein and in the Grote Markt areas. Andrew and I were able to see them and have our photos taken!

Haarlem Burgemeester

Yesterday, Andrew and I went walking 'downtown' Haarlem doing our usual Saturday morning route. We walked down to the Grote Markt....

 and noticed that a new Visitor Center has been opened next to the Stadhuis (City Hall)!  What a perfect spot!

 We found people shopping in their Dutch SUV's:

 and our favorite view....the Grote Kerk (St. Bavo's Church):

While there, we went through the new Visitor's Center. We saw the Burgemeester (Mayor) of Haarlem and stopped to say hello to he and the Marketing Director of Haarlem. They spent several minutes with us talking about how, as expats, we decided to move to Haarlem, what we like about Haarlem, and how they think they could entice people to come to Haarlem to live and shop. They were both very cordial, engaging and nice to speak with.

After we had made our purchases (flowers, sausages, cheese, etc) we made our way home and spent the rest of the morning 'hanging out'....

At 13.00, we had an appointment with our neighbor, Bruce, to go to Sligro together. Because Andrew and I are having a party in December, we thought we'd better get some supplies for the party. Bruce and Linda have a membership card to get in, so we drove, and Bruce provided the card....works for all of us!

At Sligro they always have many bottles of wine open to taste. Bruce and I tasted quite a few....Andrew was driving so he couldn't partake quite as much. We found some nice wines for the party....some reds and some whites. We also bought many non perishables (laundry and dishwasher detergent, etc.), things that are heavy and difficult for me to lug home walking from the grocery store.

After we got dropped all our purchases off and dropped off Bruce at home we picked up Gary and Louise in the car and we all drove over to Intratuin together. We bought a large bag of dog food, some cat food and kitty litter. They showed us this plant we'd never seen or heard of, and we ended up buying one.......It's called a "Lithops":

 We also got another orchid to put in the kitchen window.

__________________________________

Early this afternoon we met with Gary and Louise at the OlieBollen stand in the Bodemarkt......we got the best oliebollen we've had!  They serve them warm, after rolling them in powdered sugar...oh yes!

Later, we took Sammy for a walk in the woods....

For dinner I made an herb covered tenderloin....oh yes.......that was the best meat we've had since we moved here!  We were able to buy it at Sligro....haven't found any other meat like it anywhere else!

Thanks to Louise, I have a new favorite candy!!!  They're called Parma Violets....