Fast food

Today Eric and I ventured out to shop with the boys in Spijkenisse. It is considered a pretty large city for Dutch standards with 74,000 residents who live mostly in flats. They are much younger college kids and young professionals who live here which means lots of shopping and jobs. There were 2 large shopping malls but I really wanted to hit up H&M so we stopped there. After a couple of hours shopping it was lunch time. This is where the Dutch and Americans are very different.
We looked around to find nowhere to eat whatsoever! I think there was a Subway but there was no way I was gonna travel 6,000+ miles to eat at a Subway. In the US we have food courts plus other restaurants at the mall. Then the malls are surrounded by chain fast food restaurants. You cannot drive 1/4 mile without crossing paths with some sort of restaurant. Not in Holland.
This started a conversation while we drove around for 15 minutes looking for a place to eat, ANY place. So I asked Eric "where the hell do you eat during the day?" he responded "At home or we bring our lunch to work. Every day. It is just too expensive here." So here I am in a place that is as busy as the south side of Savannah or Buckhead in Atlanta we cannot find anywhere to eat. We stopped at a cool pancake house and they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. On the outside of the city we found a McDonalds but there is also no way I will eat there (ask me again in a week). We drove another 20 minutes to a smaller town, Brielle, and finally found a great little restaurant in the centrum. They were also having their Market Day and we enjoyed the small tents with fish, cheeses, nuts, flowers and other stuff.
Here are a few pictures of our day of shopping:

Pancake house: Closed


Finally lunch time!

Ham, egg, cheese on bread.


Fish stand. That is eel in the front.


Hering

Cheese cart



Nothing but nuts


Flowers for Oma


Thijs is a little cold!


Brielle Centrum

Snack Bars

If you ever wondered what would give McDonalds a run for their money it would be the dutch Snack Bars. As common in the landscape as a Starbucks or McDonalds, snack bars are a MUST when visiting Holland. Every time we visit it is usually the first place we visit and always go back at least 3-4 times during our stay. This is day 4 of our vacation and we have already been twice! It is THAT good! (3 times if you count the first night when Oma made it for us when we arrived in Holland)
Located in the most random places (in the middle of the beach, woods, shopping areas, or nowhere) and on every street corner they are usually within a 5 minute walk from any where.
One of our favorites is Potat Speciale: Fries, mayo, curry sauce, and raw onions. I know it sounds insane but in reality it is DELICIOUS! Served in a paper cone with a tiny midget fork.
Another sure thing is Frikendel Speciale: Fried pork hot dog also with curry sauce, mayo, and raw onions. This is traditionally served with a fife or knork (fork/knife combo) This is almost always found on every kids menu in every restaurant.
We also love the Mexicano with pinda saus. Kind of like the Dutch equivalent to the McRib (without the bun) served with a peanut butter sauce.
There are several different items on the menu but these are my personal favorite. Because of the curry and onion Eric and I always get in trouble from Oma when we walk in for dinner reeking of Snack Bar and have ruined our dinner! :) It is almost impossible to resist the Snack Bar and it's rainbow display case filled with delectable meats and fries.

By the way, on my list of foods to eat during our stay: Shwarma (turkish lamb served in pita bread with garlic butter), the Fish Stand (the number 2 fast food staple in Holland), Panekoeken (Pancake) House and the Holiday Olie Ballen Stand. So stay tuned for future posts. :)