Hallo!
We are just back from the Dutch town of Pella, Iowa, one of my happy places. Vreugde is the Dutch word for joy. That little town brings me great vreugde.
We have been a few times to see the tulips (but never during the actual Tulip Time Festival) and I had to visit once when tulips weren't in bloom to see if the tiny hamlet still charmed me. It did indeed.
Besides flowers, one of my loves is BAKERIES. Pella's bakeries (bakkerij) are heaven on earth. My sons and I share the love of French boulangeries and I am equally smitten with Dutch delights. (And no, not danishes. Dutch is the language of The Netherlands (Holland) and Danish is the language of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Don't get me wrong; I love a good danish too!)
Dutch bakeries have a plethora of cookies, pastries, breads, rolls, bars, cakes, oodles and gobs of sweet treats. Dutch letters are a specialty, but HoneyMan and I found we like goat legs better (Bokkepootjes are puff pastry sticks topped with sliced almonds and sugar. The ends are dipped in chocolate.)
We sampled A LOT of Dutch treats. All were delish. Give me a quaint walkable downtown, a town steeped in history, flowers, baked goods, and historic homes....it brings me gelukkig, inner peace and calm.
To work off the bread, cookies, cakes, and did I mention Poffertjes, we toured the working windmill, the historical village, and parks.
I am Vrolijk. Happy.
Much love,
Kelly
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