This is a new business that I decided to pop in and check out one day after the market. Before…read morecoming into this store, I had never heard of "pepernoten"...but apparently they're small (about the size of a coin) spiced Dutch cookies, kind of like a gingerbread cookie. This place specializes in just those but in a variety of fun flavors! They had some samples of their flavored pepernoten out to try, their newest on display being a Limoncello pepernoot. It was good, not heavily spiced and more citrus-y. I think this is a great thing to take home as a souvenir for family and friends because it travels well, in an air sealed packet, and is unique to the Dutch culture! I bought 3 flavors: stroopwaffel, tiramisu, and cappuccino. The prices vary from 3-4 Euros, and they were able to process my Visa card successfully! One of their machines weren't able to, but then they figured out that the other was, so I appreciate the owner going through the trouble of figuring that out! Since I bought 3 packets, they threw in another packet of the original pepernoten. I plan to take these home to share with my family/friends on holiday! It's something different from stroopwaffels. Although I'm tempted to rip open the bags now myself to have with some tea/coffee. They're pretty delicious if you like gingerbread cookies and the feeling of Christmas around the corner! I would definitely recommend this place, and can't wait to share with my foodie friends who come to visit me!

This grocery store chain is the Safeway-Piggly Wiggly of Germany. Groceries are relatively cheap…read morein Germany. Many people shop for vegetables at the weekly downtown markets and people even buy directly from farmers (eggs, asparagus, strawberries and potatoes come to mind). As is custom, grocery stores close around 6 p.m. and are not open on Sundays. People who want to shop on Sunday around here drive a short distance to Holland and shop.

From living in Hungary for a few months I had become accustomed to Spar and would shop there for…read moregroceries almost exclusively. Resultantly, when visiting the Netherlands, I had to go to Spar. That being said, my expectations were exceeded. Spar in the Netherlands has so many varieties of high quality tasty food, it's almost overwhelming and hard to decide. Much better than Spar Hungary (though that's greta too). I definitely suggest Spar Netherlands to locals and tourists alike. Prices are reasonable too.