Trying to recover from jetlag and Europe trip withdrawal.

I love quaint little towns in Europe like Ghent in Belgium and Leiden in Netherlands. Especially those where not many people visit or know about because it is more quiet. Leiden is one of them.

Next time if i were to go to Europe , im gonna stop by the little towns via train.

Here is Leiden in Netherlands.

We took a train from our home base in Rotterdam Central to Leiden and it only about 20 minutes.

Leiden is famous for tulips in Spring. You can see tulips fields in Leiden during Spring. The canals are beautiful and you can rent a boat where you can have lunch , picnic and chill out with your partner. But you need to have a license. Oppa holds a license to operate ships/vessels because he was a 2nd officer on a ship back in Korea. We wanted to rent a boat but we ran out of time and have to continue our journey to Amsterdam.

Weather was perfect for ice cream. Not too hot and not too cold.

Bubble gum chocolate mint ice cream cone at on only EUR 1.25 . Soo yummy !

We walked along the canels where there is the weekend farmers’ market.

The architetures in this little town are so beautiful and traditional.

This stall sells the famous raw Dutch brined herring. Like sashimi , it is raw and you just gulp the whole fish down.

You definitely have to try this if you are in Netherlands. One of their famous traditional food.

We ate it the traditional Dutch way .

It was freshly prepared. This stall is so popular that the owner just kept scaling and removing the bones for his customers. Once he is done , he just pass you the fish on the plate where you drizzle it with onions and just pop the whole thing into your mouth.

OMG IT IS SO FRESH and YUMMY !

We had 4-5 of them.

Just tooo fresh ! Everything done on the spot and you just eat it all raw.

See that pail of fresh Dutch Herring fish ?

We just stood at the side of the stall and ordered one after another. I prefer this than Japanese sashimi.

Yes , it is raw and soo tender. The skin , bones and head were removed on the spot after you place your order.

The locals standing beside us taught us how to eat the Dutch way. Which is to hold the fish high up and just put the whole thing into your mouth and chew.

Both of us really enjoyed it. The Dutch were kinda amused and amazed how we “dare” to eat this raw fish and  how we kept ordering for more. Probably because this is a small town and they don’t see alot of tourists here except locals. So the locals were very kind and helpful teaching us how to eat it the Dutch way. It cost only EUR 1.75 per fish.

After our Herring fishes , we walked along the canels and shopping street at Haarleemstraat.

Hongkong cuisines are quite popular here. You can see some Hongkong immigrants opening restaurants here.

Rent a boat and enjoy a picnic or twosome time with your love one. So niceee !

The Herring fishes really make us soo full and bloated that we decided to just go for street food as our lunch.

Fried mussels and shrimps with mayo. Soo nice ! I can have lots of it. Only Eur 3.

I love farmers’ market. A place where you can find fresh seafood , cheese , breads , flowers , vegetables , candies etc etc.

Ahh i should have went to Haarlem , Delft , Den Haag and Maastricht by myself when D was at work. But i have to work in the day and can only travel from Fri to Sun . Maastricht will definitely be on my list if i were to go to Europe. And Bruges in Belgium too ! These are beautiful towns.

Being in Netherlands for 3 weeks and just got to know how to read Dutch menus because in places like Leiden , Rotterdam and some other towns/cities,  you can’t really find menus in English though Dutch all speaks really good and fluent English. And i just got to learn how to pronounce the words.

Broodjes means sandwich

Kip means Chicken

Garnalen means Shrimps

Bier means Beer

Frites means Fries

Welkom means Welcome

Dank Je Wel means Thank you

Goede Morgen means Good morning

Zeer Bedankt means Thank you very much

There are many more and as time goes by , i can read abit of basic Dutch menu. Some are pretty similar to English.

Ahhh i wish i can turn back time and start my trip all over again.

So , i just came back to Rotterdam from Paris , France last night. Back to the land of tall and lean people. Everyone here is soooo tall and lean. It makes me feels like a dwarf. I look so tiny here. Paris is only 2 hours train ride away. Well , i still have to blog about my Prague and Belgium trip before i move on to Paris blog post. My favourite is definitely Belgium. I am not really impressed with Paris after i have been to Ghent and Prague. Paris is a good shopping place and good food but i prefer the architectures in Belgium and Prague. Paris is just too crowded and you get photo-bombed in every photo.

First weekend in Europe.

So , we travelled from Rotterdam ( Netherlands ) to Ghent (Belgium) and on the way back to Rotterdam ,  we stopped by Antwerp (Belgium) for half a day. You can read my blogpost about Ghent here. It is  a pretty small top with beautiful architectures.

I love Belgium !

Antwerp central station is beautiful and i love the architectures. It really has a strong European feel.

You can buy strawberries from the small stalls found in the central station. They sell really nice strawberries. I have strawberries almost once every 2 days here in Europe.

The city centre and square are just 5 minutes walk from the central station. Everyone in Belgium is really helpful and they speak good English.

The Cathedrals are soo pretty and architectures are soo damn nice. I just wanna find a cafe , sit down to have my cup of coffee, desserts and enjoy the view. Never get sick and tired of it. Shops closed after 6pm and every Sunday. So the town is alittle bit quite on Sundays.

Check out the staircase edges-shaped roofs in Belgium. You will know that you are in Belgium ( if you travel by train ) by spotting the difference in the shape of the roofs.

Travelling by bicycle is a good way to explore the city. Or you can walk.

Trust me , you will lose weight. I lost over 3kg over here in Europe. Because i walk alot EVERDAY. At least 4 hours per day non-stop and the maximum was 10 hours a day in Prague and Paris. Even my tights felt so loose now and D commented that i really lost weight. Actually both of us did.

Walking or cycling is the only way to explore the small towns or cities. But becareful when you rent a bike because cases of bicycle thefts are common.

Having our lunch at an Italian bistro , enjoying the breeze , sunshine and view of the Cathedral. Weather was cool but turned cold when there is occasional wind.

Sometimes hot , sometimes cold ..so it is better to wear in layers and bring a thick jacket along.

You definitely have to try the street food and the Belgium mussels , waffles, chocolates and ice creams. Everyone knows Belgium is well known for chocolates and waffles.

One more local food that you have to try is Frites ( fries with several choice of sauces ) . You definitely have to have it when you are in Belgium and Netherlands. Frites are popular local snacks. Go for mayo sauce and with onions if you like it.

So we had Frites in Antwerp at a popular frite store. The queue was so long.

Serving was huge and it was only about EUR 3.60. We went for the mayo sauce with onions.

Antwerp is a small town and you probably just need few hours here. Ghent and Antwerp in just 2 days.

Glad that Rotterdam is just an hour train ride away from these cities and we can go there over the weekend for a day anytime.