Someone hates the rain

 ..and his fab raincoat apparently doesn't make it any better.

Famous hazelnut cake

 Maison Kelder is famous all over the Netherlands for their hazelnut cake, and our neighbor Stephanie brought us one <3 It was very sweet and crispy and fluffy.. and definitely made with Dutch dairy!

Heading to bed

These three girls sleep together now.. lots of cuddling going on!!

 

Beach, friets and ice cream

While Jaffa was in London (more on that shortly), Eben and I took a Sunday bike ride to the beach.

I had just gotten the fabulous (Dutch touring) bike I ordered about two months ago,

and it was a beautiful day!

It's only about a 20 minute ride from our house to the beach but with a long, gradual uphill to make you feel like you're earned the snacks on the other side. Which was really why we went. We started with friets (French fries, but Dutch really given the amount of mayo that comes with them. And note that Dutch mayo is different from the mayo you know if you are not Dutch. More on that later too.)

After some time smelling the air and watching people (and eating fries), we moved on to ice cream. As far as I can tell so far, Dutch dairy products have a significantly higher fat percentage than the ones we know from other places. The ice cream doubled as lip balm. 

The dunes around the beach are spectacular!! Will bellies full, we stopped to appreciate them on the ride home. And that uphill became a really fun downhill!!

Yom Kippur

We have thrown our bread into a moving body of water in many places over the years.. 

the Congo River, the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Dakar, Rock Creek Park, 

and now - a canal in Wassenaar. Ok, maybe it's a creek. 

But it did the trick, and it was a nice walk. 

We had just woken up so we only started to feel hungry.

Grace, the carb queen, was just baffled by why we would be throwing bread into the water. 

So--of course--we gave her some. And Blu too.

Somewhere around 4:30 when we all started feeling like we had the flu 

from having fasted all day, Jaffa reminded me that last year we made 

break-the-fast banana bread. 

It's PERFECT for breaking the fast, so we did it again! 

With the flour from the mill :)

 

Hooray for local flour

This is the windmill in Wassenaar. It's being renovated but apparently is still working, 

and when I asked about flour at the bakery, they said I can get local flour milled here! 

So I did. I got a light wheat flour that smells fabulous.

..and so I'm trying to make myself a sourdough starter.

The competition is on, Dr Smith!

 

Leiden - the October 3 festival

We might have a formed a habit. We really like Leiden, and we really like the Saturday market there. So, we went for the third time yesterday.. and we got a surprise. We bumped into the October 3 festival! We didn't know what it was--we were thinking maybe the Dutch like to start Oktoberfesting really early? There was beer and a fair with rides (big ones!), and lots and lots of fair food (waffles, fried balls dipped in sugar, candyyyyyyy). Live music. Happiness!

Come to find out, we were celebrating the Leiden liberation from the Spaniards in 1574. And the food that goes with that celebration? Hutspot!! It's a potato-carrot-meat mash that was left in a pot by the fleeing Spanish army. Today, you get to choose with or without meat :)

It was fun to see all of the festivities, but Leiden is also a beautiful town. 

Lots of canals and good food, good shopping.. love the café culture too! 

Maybe someone should decide to go to university there..

 

Why I really came to the Netherlands

Two words: salted licorice

It's everywhere!!! :))

 

Bicycle parking

 I've seen stacked parking in New York city with cars, but this is the first time I've seen it with bicycles!

More Brusseleers come to Wassenaar!

John, Oydin and their kids Liam, Audrey and Eliza came to visit this weekend from Brussels! Audrey came to play soccer against ASH, and so we took advantage to catch up! Our families met in DC way back when Liam and Jaffa were 4, and they went to the Apple Tree school together. The kids are all grown up now!! Liam's friend Robert joined as well, and Robert's dad Adrian who lives in The Hague.

It just happened to be the day of the monthly market in Wassenaar, and maybe some other celebration as we saw this beautiful woman in the street as well! It was a fun day, and wonderful to be only 2 hours away from each other.

 

Oscar at the Carré

One of the best things about being in Europe is being able to go places and do things that we have not been able to do before. One of the subjects that Jaffa is focusing on for her IB diploma is theatre, which is a great choice, and ASH organizes some wonderful trips. Last week, Jaffa went to the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam to see a modern dance performance called Oscar. (Stay tuned for the report-out on her London trip in a few weeks!)

She wasn't sure she would like modern dance, but she loved it! There were also acrobats, trapeze artists, and gymnasts. Jaffa's friend Stella has some of those skills too!

They left just after school and got back at midnight, but it was worth it! she said. She said it was super cool and a great opportunity to bond with her classmates. No photos allowed of the performance, but here are some she shared of the theatre

Stroop wafels, DD

 Dunkin' Donuts. Not even kiddin'

The Market Hall in Rotterdam

We took a quick trip to Rotterdam, and most of what we saw was the Markthal!

https://www.markthal.nl/

Such a fabulously painted hall with so many stalls each with a different kind of food to choose from.. it was wonderful 😛

And we saw a couple of other old buildings too, and some of the crazy architecture that Rotterdam is known for, but we'll go back and do it justice another time. After we eat at Markthal again!

 

Madurodam

Madurodam is a theme park that features miniature replicas of many castles and buildings in Holland. Memere loved it! Apparently they change them every so often, so she can go every times she comes to visit!

the building we saw in Delft - see the crests above the door

Schiphol airport!

Lots of ideas of places we need to be sure to go visit!!