It's been one of those Saturdays that began at the Market, wandering with Gert, filling our bag with fresh juicy rhubarb and peaches for stewing, and lettuce, spring onions and tomatoes for salad tonight, and a sliver of really good salty brie from the Frenchman there, then a crunchy brown baguette for our lunch.It's a good way to begin a day here in the city of Antwerpen.
The Market is called the Foreigners Market because most of the stall holders come from other places ... I love it because it takes me back to the market close by my house in Mecidiyekoy, Istanbul.
We came back for little Miss Two and headed into the world's of Makro and Carrefour with a shopping list ... the New Zealand lamb that was on sale, some ice cream for stewed fruit and that everyday very drinkable Chilean red wine on sale for just over 3euro a bottle.
Little Miss Two is shaping up as the integration points-gatherer for an entire city back home in New Zealand ... she loves the pickled herring.
Not only that but she simply adores the raw pickled onion that comes with the fish.
But even more disturbing is the fact that she loves to eat those raw pickled onions WITH her lovely Belgian pastry, discarding the remains of said pastry once the onions is finished.
What have we created?
Now normally I would say in such a case: "She's pregnant!", but due to the very young age of the object in this case, I'm as baffled as you. :P
ReplyDeletePS: everyday very drinkable Chilean wine for 3 euro a bottle, sounds like someone is developing a teeny tiny problem :P
Lol noooooooooo, I mean it's a very average wine, the type you might have in the evenings with dinner ... everyday.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge for me is always how little can I pay without losing drinkability ... that's the 'problem'.
As for Miss Two, she's like her mother. Jessie was eating pickled onions with her dad at a young age ... it was the pickled herring and then the horror of onion and rozijnen koek!!!
Will send Vegemite. Sounds like it could be still treatable.
ReplyDeleteVegemite ... do you know, I've been craving Vegemite so bad.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you went to Makro on a Saturday and made it out alive. A nun must have been saying a rosary for you....
ReplyDeleteAs much as I like the Antwerp markets, I wonder how people handle the massive rush during shopping op Saturdays.
ReplyDeleteLike V-grrrl noticed, Makro can be a nightmare, much like Carrefour but then adding that little drop of madness that drives me over the edge (people pushing their huge shopping trolleys over my feet, the neverending check out queue)
I solved the problem by starting my shopping around 07.15am at Makro on weekdays: no hysteria, only shop owners who tend to approach shopping quiet and efficient.
Even the Meir (Antwerp's main shopping area) is a no-go area for me on Saturdays - way too busy.
It was real fun reading that Little Miss Two has a craving for raw pickled onions+herring along with a Belgian "koffiekoek" - a truly cosmopolitan mix :-)
It's Gert, v-grrl. It's so rarely difficult when he's around. After two years in Turkey with no local, I'm a firm believer in the fact that everyone needs a local living in to make life simpler ;)
ReplyDeleteI guess Eric might have something to say about that ...
You know Peter, I never got the old trolley nudge until I moved to Belgium ... it upsets me some. The woman behind me keep pushing past me to reach over and put her stuff on the conveyor belt and really truly honestly, I had no where to go to get out of her way.
The market ... that's completely motivated by the superior fruit and vegetables there, and there's a French speaking guy selling the most spectacular salty Brie up the back by the fish in the corner, and next door to him ... oh my goodness, the breads.
'Truly cosmopolitan'? ... it was a struggle to watch it all :)