Haarlem, Netherlands - Day 2

Saturday, January 27, 2024

One of the hardest parts about traveling to Europe is the jet lag. All four of us were feeling it on Saturday morning — 24 hours after we’d arrived in The Netherlands. I woke up around 5:00am feeling semi-rested, and met Tory in the upstairs hallway. With puffy, bloodshot eyes, she exclaimed, “I haven’t been to bed yet. I can’t fall asleep!” Yikes. I advised her to go lay down again and try to close her eyes. Eventually, she did fall asleep.

Arnie had gymnastics at 11:00am, so Lindsay invited anyone who wanted to join her in walking him to class to come along this morning. She promised a stop by the grocery store which intrigued Andi and I, so we decided to tag along. Since Tory and Aden were still asleep, we left them behind at the house with Kyle and Nora.

It was a crisp, cool winter morning in Haarlem (38 degrees F), but the sun was shining which felt good on our faces as we walked. The cobblestones streets were quiet on a Saturday morning, except for a quick “hallo!” from Lindsay’s neighbor as we passed her on the sidewalk. Arnie was excited for gymnastics and ran right into the doorway as his instructors greeted him in Dutch. Lindsay said she knows he can understand a lot of the Dutch being spoken to him, but he is too shy to respond yet. It’s impressive how much of the language he’s already absorbed at age 5.

After dropping Arnie at gymnastics class, Andi, Lindsay, and I walked around the block to her local grocery store called Albert Heijn (or “A.H.” as Lindsay calls it). This is a really nice grocery store with convenient handheld scanners customers can use to pay for their groceries. Lindsay tapped her Apple Pay to the kiosk and a handheld device connected to her debt card. We didn’t really need any groceries, but Andi and I always love seeing different products available for purchase in other countries.

Something unique we saw in the grocery store was a section of pre-chopped veggies. Because refrigerators in Dutch homes are small, grocery stores sell a variety of “veggie kits” which take up less room than bags of carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, etc. There were several different types of pre-chopped veggies for soups and other recipes like traditional Dutch stamppot.

Another popular item in The Netherlands are various spreads for sandwich bread and crackers. There were all different kinds of sweet and savory spreads — peanut butter, Nutella, cheese, salmon, tuna, beef, and club just to name a few.

The Dutch also love black licorice and there were big displays of it in the grocery store. This particular merchandising display was filled with black licorice hearts for Valentine’s Day.

We ended up buying a loaf of bread, a bunch of bananas, and some bakery treats to take home to the kids. Lindsay walked Andi and I back to her house and then returned to the gymnastics class to pick up Arnie.

After Lindsay and Arnie returned home, the eight of us decided to bike to Haarlem’s city center for the Saturday market. This market pops up every Saturday (and Mondays as well, to a smaller degree). The whole area was electric with bustling activity as we parked our bikes and walked a few blocks toward the central square. The buildings all around the market square are beautiful and historic, mostly dating back to the 1600s.

I love this picture of Lindsay biking Arnie and Tory through the streets of Haarlem.

There were three foods that Kyle and Lindsay wanted us to try: kibbeling (which is a battered, fried white fish served with garlic mayo), friets (French fries), and stroopwafel (a caramel waffle cookie). Of course, there were all sorts of things to purchase at the market including fresh flowers, fish, meat (even horse meat!), potatoes, fruit, nuts, olives, and cheeses. Kyle said that in the summertime, vendors often hand out fresh fruit to kids who pass by the stands.

Lindsay purchased two stroopwafels for the group to share. Except, Arnie and Aden didn’t get the memo! They both gobbled down the stroopwafels faster than the rest of us could snag more than a bite. I think Aden’s exact words were, “OMG, yum!” as his eyes rolled back into his head. They are really tasty.

Next, Kyle got an order of kibbeling for us all to share. Kibbeling is battered chunks of white fish served with a garlic mayo sauce. I can’t say that I’d normally seek out fried fish as a snack, but wow — was kibbeling ever delicious! Aden really liked this Dutch street food, as well as Andi, Kyle, Lindsay, Arnie, Nora, and I. Tory was the only one to pass after trying a small nibble. Kibbeling reminded me of Friday Fish Frys back home in Wisconsin.

The last street food we tried were friets (or, French fries in Dutch). Lindsay ordered two portions of friets — one with the traditional mayo dipping sauce, and one without. She said there’s about 20 different types of flavored mayos you can order with friets — the Dutch like mayo!

These friets were so good! They were crispy on the outside with a hefty amount of soft, piping hot potato on the inside. The friets were a hit with everyone in our group.

After sampling different foods at the market, Kyle left to go home with Nora so she could nap while Andi, Lindsay, Tory, Aden, Arnie and I stayed at the market to walk around some more. We walked by the olive and cheese stands, trying samples as we browsed and all agreed that one of the cheeses we tried was out-of-this-world delicious. “I can’t stop thinking about that cheese,” Tory said. “I want that cheese to put in my backpack.” I’m not sure carrying around cheese in a backpack is such a great idea, but we agreed to buy some cheese for Tory that we could all enjoy at Kyle and Lindsay’s house this weekend.

Andi and I were still a little hungry, so we bought cups of hot soup to eat (classic dutch pea and mushroom truffle) . Lindsay and Arnie each picked out empanadas from an Argentine food stand. There were lots of restaurants and cafes encircling the market square, but they were all pretty busy on a Saturday afternoon.

Around 3:00pm, the six of us hopped on our bicycles and rode back to Lindsay’s house for some quiet time. We didn’t hang around for long though. After a little “big kid quiet time,” we were on the go again — this time, riding bikes to one of Arnie’s favorite nature playgrounds in Haarlem called Haarlemmer KweekTuin.

I loved the vibe of this nature playground. Lindsay and Arnie led us along a walking path weaving through some old castle ruins. We even spotted a few winter mushrooms growing on the ground and daffodils springing to life. For being such a sunny day in Haarlem, we practically had the place to ourselves which was fantastic. Tory, Aden, and Arnie played together on the playground equipment and the rope bridge while Lindsay, Andi, and I visited with one another nearby.

Lindsay also wanted to take us to their favorite “windmill park,” so we rode our bikes there next. This was another dutch playground that has a membership associated with it. Kyle and Lindsay pay a small fee for access to the fenced-in playground. In the summertime, Lindsay said the park is staffed and sells beverages and ice cream treats which makes it a really fun place to hang out. There’s also a gigantic Dutch windmill next door — hence, the nickname “windmill park.”

Around 5:30pm, the six of us left the windmill park and biked home to Lindsay’s. We’d had a full day already, but the evening wasn’t over yet! Lindsay made dinner for all the kids, and then Kyle and Lindsay put Arnie and Nora to bed for the night. Tory agreed to stay home and babysit all the kids for the evening so Andi, Kyle, Lindsay, and I could have a nice dinner out. After such a busy day, I think Tory and Aden were fine having a few hours to lounge around on the couch.

The adults walked to a cozy, little restaurant down the street called Nancy’s. We ordered drinks and entrees, and spent several hours conversing. Andi had the duck and said his meal was excellent. Lindsay and I both had the steak which was also very tasty.

Going out to dinner helped Andi and I stay awake through the evening, further adjusting us to the time change. We turned in for the night around 11:30pm. We have one more day in Haarlem tomorrow. We’re loving our time here, and the opportunity to see & experience so many of the places Kyle and Lindsay love in this city.