This Global Life | Day 16: The Netherlands
Hi! I'm Elizabeth. I live in the Netherlands with my husband, Jeff, and two (soon to be three) boys. We live in the town of Delft in South Holland. We moved to Delft from Colorado, U.S.A. almost exactly a year ago for my husbands work. We've embraced Dutch life, biking as much as we can. We also love to travel and make the most of the time we have in Europe. I blog about our Dutch life and our European travels with our littles.You Connect with me: Blog Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest
The typical Dutch breakfast consists of bread, topped with butter and Hagelslag. (Sprinkles!) The chocolate is the traditional but they also come in "fruit" flavored. Farm fresh eggs (typically hardboiled), cheese and milk are served along side your sprinkled bread. Don't forget the coffee! The Dutch top the worlds biggest coffee drinkers averaging over 2 cups a day. 
At 8:10 we load up the bikes and head out of the house through the neighborhood. Children start school here on their 4th birthday. Our oldest is half way through his Group 1 year. The school is located in our neighborhood. It's not uncommon on our ride to see Swans and other birds in the canal. 
Jeff and I continue our bike ride into downtown Delft. We park our bikes at the train station parking lot. Don't forget where you parked! 
Jeff is taking the train to Den Haag this morning for a meeting. My train loving little and I hang around to watch some of the yellow and blue NL Trains move through the station. The Dutch public transit system, consisting of trains, trams, buses and underground Metro's is incredibly efficient and allows you to travel the entire country easily. 
Now just the little and I, we bike into Delft Centrum toward the Market Square. Isn't it lovely! I don't think I will ever get tired of this view. 
It's Market Day! We are picking up our fruits & veggies and bread. My favorite though are the flowers! For €5 you get three bunches, 30 stems. As a result, Dutch home are always full of flowers. It is one of my favorite things about living here! 
When school is over we pick our big guy up in the bike and set out on our afternoon adventure. My favorite ride is through the "Delftse Hout" a wooded area just outside of the city center. 
Today we head to the farm, Hoeve Biesland, where we pick up our milk, eggs, cheese and butter. The little farm store has a variety of produce as well. That's my Bakfiets, cargo bike, parked outside the farm stand. The kids love to check out the chickens, pigs and cows while we are here too. 
When Jeff gets home from work it is amazingly not raining! He gets out our little boat and takes the boys down to the playground via the Canal. I walk to join them. 
We meet our friends at the playground. The Dutch playgrounds are amazing. The equipment encourages the kids to climb, swing, jump and take risks. You are hard pressed to find two playgrounds that are exactly the same around here. 