The Chocolate Room

After walking around the areas, it was the time for some sweets. This place is famous for their chocolate cake, but we had their daily special instead. Actually a slice of cake came with us for tomorrow...

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Flea Market

It was a perfect Saturday. We went to a flea market in Clinton hill area. We did not have this unfortunately, but it looked fantastic.

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Breakfast at 4 AM

Since I started this extensive trips to Amsterdam, my body clock has never been adjusted for NY time.

This is me preparing breakfast. A fee things I need to mention. This yellow coffee filter is a great find at the flea market in Cologne. And the matzos on the plate. It is a special bread Jewish eats over passover, which was a few weeks ago. Someone, you know who, gives a box or two every year and I kind of like it. Today I ate it. with home made ANKO, or sweet red bean paste and of course butter.

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Home Cooking

Finally I am back in the height. It was a long three week trip. Trees are all green and it is one of the best times to be. I was eager to cook something and we ended up with swordfish. Simple sauce made it very refreshing. Love to be in NYC.

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I have to post this

I need to post this picture as they look so GOOD on this picture.

These were my so called "lunch" on Sunday.

Aren't they delicious?

Weekend Trip to Belgium

I was supposed to be back in NYC this weekend, but as always there was a last minute change. As I did not want to be in the same hotel during the weekend, I again drove for 2 hours to my favorite city Brussels (and the hotel is so cheap there for some reason).

This time I stretched my trip to Gent - 45 minutes drive from Brussels, where you can see a lot of historical architectures. It is surrounded by rivers (I think it is not canal like Amsterdam/Haarlem).

Of course there was French influence all over and you can find great pastries in the town. You can see it is different from the one in Germany or the Netherlands. It looks like from Paris, if I don't tell you, don't you think?

There was one local cuisine I researched for. This is pretty similar to Japanese cream stew but more lighter version in terms of dentistry. It was a big bowl and sufficient for lunch.

At ANOTHER bakery I bought this waffle but a bit different from the one in Haarlem. It has vanilla butter cream in between, vs. caramel and it was actually really good. I couldn't wait till going back to the hotel so I ate some of it outside, even it was pretty cold.

I don't drive a car in the U.S. but I need to do here in Europe. I was told one time if I own a car, it would be Mini. This time I have a Mini (while I usually have a BMW, ha ha). I like a traditional Mini over this but it is still unique design. It stands out especially in front of the old buildings.

Before heading back to Haarlemt on Sunday, I had another round of pastry hopping. This is even more French looking place and I bought TWO I had as "lunch".

While waiting for the rain to stop, I found this beautiful flower shop. I have favorite one in Brooklyn Heights, but this is actually prettier than that. Very dramatic building/space and good for the colorful flowers to pop.
It was a very nice weekend trip and I am sure I will do that again when I have a weekend to kill...

Cologne Two

I should have posted this earlier. This is the most famous sight in Cologne, the dorm. I think this could be taller than the one in Barcelona. It is huge and located just in front of the main station.

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