Day 25 (Antwerp, Utrecht)

Goodbye, sweet Belgium. I will miss you and all your waffle treats.

The morning started beautifully. Ben's dad had gone out and gotten us some delicious pastries. They're pretty much  a million layers of flaky puff pastry, filled with Bavarian cream, and topped with ridiculicious chocolate.

GRAHHH!! Just look at it! It makes me want to eat it all over again. But not the same one. Unless I had a time machine just for foods. Someone please make me a time machine just for foods.

Cherise, Ben and I wandered out into the market

 Market!!

 Where I bought me some man panties

 Bask in their glory!

For all of you who don't know, "UOMO" means "MAN" in Italian. I don't actually use them for underwear, but for shorts that- I don't have to explain myself to you! I am wearing MANwear.

By the way, that's the closest you're going to get to seeing me in my underwear, so enjoy it.


We also saw puppies!

There's this lump of puppies over here ------------->

And these puppies came and played with us! AAAHHHHH! PUPPIESSSSSS!!!







Ben and Cherise pointed out this bicycle to me,

and told me it is a traditional Netherlands bicycle. The bucket is for carrying you know, groceries, small children, more bicycles... But the thing is, the only one I've seen was in Belgium... I will have to ask Jasper about it, and look for them here. I will keep you posted on this serious issue.

Then, I said my sad goodbyes, and found my way to the train station. By which I mean Cherise drove me there. I was off to the Netherlands! I only got lost a little bit, and found my way to Jasper's place. BY THE WAY, if you ever visit, keep in mind that an apartment numbered, for example, "128" does not necessarily mean it is the 28th apartment on the 1st floor. In fact, it may actually mean you walk up 9 flights of stairs with a huge heavy bag to get there, not having taken the elevator, thinking there's no way number 128 is on the top floor. Just a warning. Next time you look at an elevator and are like, nah, it can't be that bad- rethink it. I've already told you how I feel about cardio.

So I am here! We went to the grocery store, which was amazing. If you know me, then you know how fond I am of grocery stores. Grocery stores in foreign lands are like Christmas. I had Christmas in Holland today. Followed by some tasty chicken business that Jasper made for me!

<---Jasper, cookin' up a storm

                                                    The spoils!








It was followed by some tasty pudding. Which Jasper said was flan. Apparently flan is different in Spain. I think the world needs to decide on a more universal standard for our solid-ish dairy desserts. I will be happy to provide one for you.

First,

This, is pudding. It is a slightly thicker consistency than yogurt, and most commonly eaten out of a small bowl with a spoon. This is the most delicious of the 3 desserts, and best eaten in large quantities.

Secondly,

This, is custard. Slightly thicker than pudding, it is commonly bruleed, used inside of pastries, or sometimes frozen into an ice cream-like treat. When frozen, it is on par with pudding in deliciousness, as well as when properly bruleed, but as it's own dish, it's more like pudding's awkward cousin that pudding's mom made him bring along. Plus, it seems somewhat more British, and we all know what their food is like.

And, lastly, this is flan

A very thick type of custard, commonly molded into an upside down cake shape, and covered in caramel, or some other liquidy sort of sauce. This is probably to try to cover up the off-putting texture of the thing, unfortunately using something that itself tastes like old coffee grounds.

That, folks, is the new universal standard. I expect you all to use it. I of course am an expert in the field, and I'm an American, and I'm wearing MANwear. This means I am right, and there is no other explanation.

I'm sorry England for insulting your food. It's not your fault it tastes so bad.


DUTCH THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED:

slagroom = whipped cream
kip = chicken
stroopwafels = delicious

The Dutch are not as much all about the apple pie as we seem to make it out to be. Although I would like to point out that the word for "apple pie" and for "birthday cake" are the same, so I am skeptical.

The Dutch think that we Americans exaggerate too much. I love that they think that about us. It's amazing.