I K E A, I K E A, I K E A!

Saturday morning (yesterday) we went for a walk downtown and bought some nice cheese, bread, produce and sat and enjoyed a snack of "kibbeling" (a fried fish dish served with garlic sauce)! I think this is going to be one of my favorite Saturday things to do! Notice everyone is still wearing winter jackets!!!  Not much of a hint of summer here yet.......

We walked by some very festive music:

In the afternoon we decided to brave another trip over to IKEA where we saw these signs all over the parking lot......

“Today at Ikea it’s Plundra, to make room for our new collection. That’s why this Frostig fridge is only € 299. But be quick, cause gone does mean gone. Ikea, every day is different.” The word ‘Plundra’ sounds Swedish – just like all the Swedish-named products at Ikea – but it is actually a pun derived from the Dutch word ‘plunderen’, meaning to loot and referring to the big Sales Ikea has once a year. Agency Lemz created a different Tetris game for every bargain, slowly emptying Ikea’s warehouse. Simple and smart.


Today we (actually Andrew did most of the work!) put the table that we had bought yesterday together. We have found their furniture to be pretty darn sturdy and innovative...and perfect for our needs here!  

Then set up  the sewing machine on the new table.....so now I'm ready to go!  

Because I had purchased the sewing machine in the U.S. I need to use a transformer. I bought that before leaving CA from Dublin Sewing Supply.........sooooooo, hopefully I won't blow up the machine!

After getting the sewing machine set up we decided to take a short bike ride. It had been raining all day and it appeared there was a break in the storm.  We got just a few blocks away and it started pouring down rain!  Sooooo, we rode our bikes home!  It was all in a straight line, so I haven't made any turns, but I did get on the bike and ride a little!  
After our bike ride we headed to the movies (on foot)  at the Cinema Pathe. On the way up town we walked by what we think is a school. Over the front entry is the Haarlem Crest:

We saw Snow White and the Huntsman.  Afterwards we went to Woodstone Restaurant for pizza. While waiting for a table we walked over to the Jopen Kerk and had a beer (made here in Haarlem!). Andrew had the "Jopen Ongelovige Thomas" or "Doubting Thomas" in English! and I had the Jopen Jacobus. Both were good!  We wanted to have dinner there, but discovered that the only meal they serve there is lunch. In the evening they only have appetizers and beer or wine.