Alkmaar Cheese Market

Holland is one of the biggest cheese exporters in the world, and I have been wanting to go to the cheese markets since we have gotten here.  The market runs every Friday from April until the first week of September.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute! It is crazy to me that we will not live here next year when the cheese market starts!

Jackson and I went to the market with our friends Jessica and Liam.  It is quite a drive for all of us being north of Amsterdam. The boys played in the back seat sharing toys and after a little fit, they were sleeping! (thank goodness) 

The market is only two and a half hours each week so we didn't have a ton of time to make sure we saw it all! There were tons of the regular street vendors selling nick-knacks and food.  Then we made our way to the main stage.  We got to see how the cheese is weighed, then tasted and finally sold to the consumer.  We felt like we had gone back in time 100 years.  It was great! There were so many people there, we couldn't decide it if it was because it was the last week of the year or if every week is just that busy.  It was amazing!

If you know me, you know how much I LOVE cheese!  It was so much fun for me!  There were all things cheese, except a cheese head!

After a quick walk through the market we let the boys play by the church and they had a great time!  It was fun for the moms too, just having happy babies can make such a difference. We decided to take a chance and have lunch in an actual restaurant. (not our best idea)  They only had 1 kid seat for the entire place :( We braved it anyways and soon regretted our decision.  The boys didn't eat well and they were all over the place. Luckily we all got the traditional dutch sandwich and we on our way in just a short time. 

I hate rewarding not eating with a treat, but we as moms needed a treat after that CRAZY lunch. Ice cream!  The boys had some milk shakes (but not too much, don't worry) and the moms had an ice cream cone with sprinkles. Yum!

After a little more playing we were back on the road, all four of us exhausted. A great day to be in the Netherlands. Thanks for going with us Liam and Jess!