Market and Marken

We were all very excited today when the sun showed its face.  Woohoo!  We got to wear capris!  I know, it's sad.  I've probably had a total of a week of summer so far this year because it's been rainy and cold in Germany so often, and apparently it's even colder here!  I'll only have about four or five weeks of summer this year, unfortunately. :( But, as my mom pointed out, that's four more weeks than the people here! :)

Yesterday, my mom read a very wise saying that I just wanted to share with you: "Sometimes you disagree with an opinion just because of how it was delivered."  Think about it.  I think it's very true!

We started off our day in the very town we're staying in: Naarden!  We went to the market, where we hadn't been yet.  There were lots of flowers, fruits and vegetables, and bread.  My mom decided to send me on an adventure and told me to buy some bread.  I was terrified.  I didn't know what to do.  It's not like I could talk to the dude - not in Dutch anyway - but I wanted to accomplish something, so I decided to take up my mom's challenge.  I held up the bag with the bread and handed the cashier dude the five euro bill, for which he gave me change.  That part went pretty smoothly.  Then he asked me if I wanted a bag, which I understood the second time around.  Just the second, folks! ;)

After buying some more stuff, we stopped at a bakery.  There we bought some really yummy stuff.  They were essentially whole-wheat croissants with seeds and nuts and stuff.  NOM!  I had a total of three... :)

We made a quick stop back at the apartment before setting off again, by car this time.  We drove a couple of minutes to quickly look at the yacht harbor of Naarden, then continued on a really picturesque route to Marken.  I hope I am spelling Marken ight.  There might be two 'a's, as I've seen a lot of double 'a's in Dutch.  

We saw a lot of the sea today, instead of just canals like the past few days.  Okay, maybe "just" isn't quite accurate; canals are awesome too! :) But it was cool to see the sea, which we hadn't really seen yet.  We drove through some adorable - and tiny - little towns, with colorful houses and cobblestone streets overlooking the sea with little sailboats tied up on shore.  It was definitely postcard worthy!  We also saw a lot of geese, cows, horses, etc.  Four swans flew right in front of our car!

We then arrived in Marken, a town on a peninsula on the sea (or lake, I'm not sure.)  First we went into a touristy house thingie, where we could see how they make those wooden clogs.  The demonstration wasn't going, but the ceiling was strung with lots and lots of clogs in various stages of the production process.  There were also clogs available to try on, which we did. :) We also bought some souvineers of the Netherlands. :)

Then we walked around the town.  There were a lot of tourists, just like in Amsterdam.  We sat by the sea (or lake?) for a while and watched a man play fetch with an adorable dog.  The way it jumped into the water to get sticks reminded me of Marlie.  I miss Marlie!  But I'll see her in a couple of days. :)

We got something to eat and then continued to explore the town.  We've gotten pretty good at wandering by now. ;) Erin and I found a playground and spent a few minutes enjoying ourselves, being weird, and enjoying being weird.  I think that runs in our family. ;)

We started to walk down a path right next to the sea/lake, which led to a lighthouse.  We didn't walk all the way to the lighthouse because the path was 7 kilometers long.  We'd already been walking around a couple of hours, and my feet were starting to hurt again.  My mom keeps telling me to wear my tennis shoes instead of my Keds, but my Keds are waaay cuter, and you  know how teenage girls prioritize. ;)

After an equally picturesque drive home, we had a tasty treat of Vla.  Yes, Vla is a word.  A very awesome word, if you ask me.  Google Translate says that it means "custard."  Vla is pretty much very liquidy pudding that you can drink if you want to.  Is that what custard is?  I have no idea.  The point is Vla is yummy!  It's even yummier if you add... duh duh DUH....

Hagelslag! :D

Some of you may remember Hagelslag from my blog two years ago, when my family spent a week in Belgium.  Hagelslag is pretty much chocolate sprinkles that actually taste like chocolate. :) Belgian kids put it on their toast or something, I think.  Much to my sister's and my delight, there is Hagelslag in the Netherlands, too!  So chocolate Vla + Hagelslag = Yawesomeness.  I just made that word up.  It means "yummy awesomeness." :)

German word of the day: Meer.  Pronounced MAHRE.  The r sound is very light, so it almost sounds like "Mayer."  It means "sea."