abqtoadam: Warme Wintermarkt

While riding home from my first yoga class in five months (something called "power yoga," which apparently involves a lot of grunting), I noticed that the Albert Cuypmarkt was open. The street is usually empty of vendors on Sundays (in a bit of a depressing and mildly creepy way), but it was the site of the "Warme Wintermarkt." It didn't seem any different than a normal day at the market, except that a few stands were selling Gluhwijn (mulled wine), there was a small pony area, which I think was some kind of manger scene, and there was a small group of people singing.

The Cuypmarkt sells a lot of cheap clothes, toiletries, and trinkets, but I usually only buy food there. Many of the signs are marketed to tourists, or at least English speakers.

The ubiquitous herring stand.

I passed on the cookies, fresh french fries, herring, chicken, and fresh stroopwafels in favor of poffertjes, a Dutch mini-pancake. The vendor makes them fresh on a skillet designed specifically for poffertjes, and he passed them on to his wife, who smothered them with powdered sugar and added a healthy pad of butter. And extra 50 cents would have gotten me Nutella to go with is. I figured the butter and sugar was enough.

This was the first time I'd seen turkeys at the market. Note the prices - one of them is 66 euros (approximately $90). Apparently the industrial meat complex in the Netherlands has not been able to provide the same prices as the U.S. system has.

Child at the fruit and vegetable market. Kind of adorable.

The Dutch Christmas season - well, the small slices that I've observed - seems more focused on family time and relaxation than gift giving (they have a different holiday for gifts in early December). The whole things feels a bit more wholesome. At least in Amsterdam, where there are few malls and big box stores to drown things like carols in conspicuous consumption and stress.