Oilily

Everytime I go to Bergen I have to look inside this shop: Ollie.

It sells brands such as Oilily. It is a bohemian and vibrant brand with clothing, bags and accessories for women of (lots of) personality, babies and children. The quality is outstanding.

The brand was developed in the 60's in Alkmaar and has now shops in more than 10 lands.

For more details look at www.oilily.nl

The ugly duck [lelijke eend]

Cute, cute, excess of cuteness, cool !

Trash containers # 3

I prefer to make no comments !

Lies # 3

I loooove House's quotation: "Doctors lie also".
(House MD, Dr. House is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Dutch television)

Gnomeland [Kabouterland]

Dutch people are definitely the tallest of the world.

And because younger generations are spending more and more their vacations in sunny countries (sun stimulates the production of vitamine D, responsible for bone growth) the kids I see around are impressively tall.

Nevertheless, there is still a taste here for the "mini", especially among older generations.

Mini plants in the garden, mini objects in the house, mini cups and mini biers, mini presents, a short telephone call, a little weekend or short trip, a quick message, a cute animal.

Plantje, kopje, pilsje, cadeautje, telefoontje, weekendje, reisje, berichtje, beestje.

Recession ? Crisis ?

"Te koop" in Dutch means "on sale", " 'a vendre", "vende-se" ...

We see much more offers of houses the last months than the usual.

And they stay also much longer on sale than it used to be.

I don't think Holland is going through a serious recession, though.

And you ? What do you think ?

Mussels

Yesterday hubby decided to prepare mussels (mosselen) for dinner. It is very easy, a healthy delicacy and not so much time consuming. These on the package below were bought at Dirk van den Broek supermarket. Every month with an "R" in it is a mussels month !

Firstly, wash them well under cold water and throw away the broken or open ones:

He was inspired and fried onions, garlic, leek, red pepper in a special pan:

Then he added the well washed mussels and wine. We did not have fresh herbs at home, so I used coriander seeds instead of its leaves. He cooked it all for a while with the lid covering the pan. You have to shake the pan for acouple of times until you notice the shells are open...

... Ta-da ! Check the result below. Serve with chilled white wine and French fries (patat) or slice a French baguette and serve it with butter or garlic sauce.

L.E.K.K.E.R. !!!!!

Warm & Comfy

Spring is slowly coming up... It is still cold around here in the Low Lands, though.

Sheep or goat fur are available at farm shops (boerderij winkels) or farm markets (boerenmarkt) in brown and white. Fine on the floor or on chairs. Prices range from 50 to 100 euros.

Wall Snack

If you are a tourist walking around the center of Dutch big cities for the first time, you will highly probably see these snacks displays. You can't mis them, they are everywhere.

Each "window" displays a snack: cheese souffle, meat kroket, loempia, frikandel, hamburguers, to name a few...

Everything deep fried and very hot. You insert the coins required and open the window with the product you paid for. The most popular is Febo.

You guess right: zillions of calories and trans fats.

Eet smakelijk !

Trash [stickers] #2

The post about containers stickers was one fo the most succesful of this blog so far (although people preferred to make compliments about it to me personally than posting a comment in the blog). I had an appointment at the hairdresser on the Bilderdijkstraat (A'dam) last week and spotted the referred stickers being exposed in the Blokker. Now you know where to find them !

Condomerie

Nearby the Red Light Zone, and behind de Damrak, there is a street called Warmoestraat where you can eat at good price restaurants and visit ahnn, "special" shops.

One of these touristical attractions is the Condomerie.

Funny condoms in all sizes, colours and variations. Some are even hand painted.
Very, very funny.

(Pssst ! Photos inside the shop are not allowed.)

Lies #2

"Patients lie".

House MD, Dr. House.

(Ummm... I agree with this quotation, unfotunately...)

It is a mess with schedules on Dutch TV.

Tonight I've seen "House" at RTL 5, at maybe 21:30 !?...

Food Horror

I spotted this book at the BRUNA.
I am a foodie and always interested in the bio-industrie, crazy E-letters on labels, pesticides, and food allergies, for example. This book has some shocking images and surprising facts.
"Everything that you never wanted to know about what really is in your food".

After going through some pages, you will never see food the same way again.

Available at Bruna and other bookstores. Price around 15euros.
A good "cadeau tip" for my birthday (he-he-he!)

Beauty Godesses: BR x NL

One is from mixed races.
The other was born in the land of polders.
Both very requested presence on international catwalks.

Ilse

She was on my husband's side of the bed.

So beautiful and talented.

So Incredible.

KRAAM VISITE

Sunday morning I drove to Schagen, North Holland.
My friend E. has a baby boy.

Welcome to the world !