After traveling around by car, and staying in hotels for 1 or 2 nights at a time, we are happy to be settled here for 10 nights. It felt nice to unpack. And, we have a washer and dryer here in the house so we can get all our stuff nice and clean!
Last night was our first night in the house and thankfully it was easy. Sara likes her room, complete with the little Hello Kitty mat we bought for her in Brugge Belgium. It makes each room (including the hotels) feel familiar to her. Naturally she has Puppy, Turtle, and Micky Mouse also. The only thing that was off the wall was when I went into Sara's room this morning after she said, "Mama, Papa, I'm awake I'm ready" she was standing on her window sill. "Mama, I'm peeking out from behind this curtain, and I have poo poo" was her greeting. I didn't comment on her window sill location, I don't want to make it a fun game for her to go up there. I just hope she won't do it again. Having poo poo is okay, she still wears a diaper for over night.
Dan went to return the rental car in den Haag so he left around 7:30 AM to be there at 8:00. He was back here by the time we were dressed and ready for the day. He said that the car drop off was easy. He took the tram back from den Haag, and that was easy too. The car rental worked out well.
We headed out of the house early to go to the Thursday Market. It had everything. Olives, Bakery, Meat, Fish, English pies, waffels, fruit, vegetables. And that is just the edible stuff. (They had cheese too, but I'm still on a no-cheese plan). They also had bike supplies, hardware, sewing stuff, clothes, socks, hats, sweaters, shoes, boots, basically if you need it, the market had it. It was held in the market square by the bell tower (which is ringing now at 20:28 PM) and wow, the bells rang all the time during the market - actual songs - not just clang, clang, clang. The songs on the bells were thing you could sing to, including "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music and other songs like Amazing Grace. I loved it - as I like hearing European bells in the first place - and hearing them on a jolly market day made it a positive delight.
Sara, loved the market. That kid just swaggers down the aisles, looking at everything. There are a lot of people at markets so thankfully she stays somewhat close to us, but she does like a bit of independence. She helped me buy: strawberries, 2 cucumbers, 5 kiwi, a bag of yellow peppers, bananas, 2 hair ribbons, 500 Grams of plumbs, tomatoes, 6 muffins, 1 English pie, and I think that is it. People get a huge kick out of her, since she is a confident shopper and doesn't know that 3.5 year olds don't normally stroll up to a market and order things. She is fun to be with. She just skips, looks, talks, and has the best time.
We ate at the market. Surprise. Surprise. There was a fish stand that was making fresh fried fish, which may not sound appealing, but it wasn't gross fried oil smell - they used an excellent batter and some kind of flavor that made the fish taste so good, I got 250 KG for 3.50 Euro, and then went back for 500 KG for 5 Euro. We ate, and ate, and ate. Even Sara kept eating. And, asking for more fish!
Along with the bells that were ringing songs from the bell tower there was a horse drawn music maker that was bellowing songs into the market. It was loud, but a neat novelty. I think it worked off air, and there was a jolly scene to watch while it made music. Needless to say, Market Day was super fun.
We took our first round of things we bought back here. Happily, the location of this house is ideal. Probably a five minute walk to the market, which is the center of town. After relaxing a bit, we went back outside. This time we strolled over to the flower market (down the street from the other market) and did some general walking around. Before coming back here we bought some eggs (fresh eggs, not refrigerated), a coffee, a waffle, and we were all happy.
Delft is darn right adorable. Canals - with little bridges so you can cross them. Churches - with neat decorations and spires. Bikers - no cars, just a zillion people on bikes with baskets on front - or many people cart kids around on their bikes. And the old houses are similar to Bruge/Brugges Belgium where they are really old (often brick) and just almost like out of a fairytale they are so cute. Many go back to 1650 or so - which makes the USA seem like such a baby. Having it be Fall makes things pretty too - with a lot of trees having yellow leaves, which float to the ground when the wind blows.
Dan made dinner. Chicken curry with rice and vegetables. After being on the road in hotels it is refreshing to be able to eat what we cook again. Restaurants/Cafes are fun, but having a family dinner of what we choose to cook is a nice way to have a meal. We also make huge salads with dinner. Sara ate 3 plates of: yellow pepper, cucumber, chicken, green peas, kiwi. Great to see that! She also tried the English pie what we got at the market, which was "Thai chicken" flavor. It was like a pot pie, that we put in the oven 'till it was flakey and delicious.
We noticed there was no coffee maker here. Dan sent an email to the house owner. When we returned there was a brand new coffee maker in the vestibule, and a coloring book for Sara! How nice. :) He also provided a little desk for her to use, which she sits at and colors. And she loves the toys that he provided. Mostly wooden puzzles. We've had to call her to dinner - since she was down stairs playing all by herself so happily. We just love that!
The house owner also told us about a kid event on Sunday that we'll try to go to.
So we are happy here. I'm going to try to get to bed early (like before 10 PM). Right now Dan is learning about "den Haag" where we think we will day trip to tomorrow. It is about 30 minutes away by tram. I am going to wrap up this blog and then enjoy the 3 dozen red roses Dan bought for me at the market. :) They look nice sitting on this wooden table.
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Quote of the day: (We had just returned from our evening walk.)
Papa: "Sara, come over here and hang up your coat."
Sara: "Okay Papa."
Sara: "Here you go Papa."
Papa: "I think our daughter just tipped me for hanging up her coat. She handed me her coat, then gave me a 50 cent piece!"
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Good night,
Lori
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