This morning, despite the drizzling rain, Pippo and I went out to explore the stoffenmarkt (fabric market) on Broodstraat and the flower market at Janskerkhof. Both are Saturday institutions that I’ve been wanting to see since we’ve been here, but somehow have missed until now.
First we headed over to Broodstraat (the other house we came close to buying is located there) to check out the fabric. It’s really quite impressive! The whole street was filled on both sides with stall after stall selling all sorts of fabrics, as well as buttons, patches, thread and I’m sure many other sewing-related bits and pieces. It was almost overwhelming with the sheer volume of fabric. We didn’t even see all of it, because Pippo seemed a bit overwhelmed, as well.
I should point out that I used the Halti on Pippo to avoid the constant pulling we usually have to deal with. We’d originally bought it when we were living in Manhattan and it made an immediate difference. It hasn’t lost its power. Pippo was incredibly well-behaved and didn’t jump or pull or perform any of his usual antics. We eventually left the fabric market, because he truly seemed overwhelmed. Despite the rain, there were large crowds of people. Perhaps between the sheer volume of people, as well as the inhibition of the Halti, he seemed almost hesitant to move on any further. That, or he really liked a particular fabric and was trying to get me to buy it. 
As a result of Pippo not wanting to move, I did find a fabric that I’ll probably go back for next week. It’s a great upholstery fabric that I think will make perfect pillows for our sofa.
Not wanting to make Pippo suffer after he’d been such a good boy, we headed out to begin our walk back home. Along the way, we passed a street leading to Janskerkhof, so we decided to take a quick walk through the flower market. Hippie that he is, Pippo would have loved to have stopped and sniffed all of the flowers, but with the rain coming down harder, I figured it should just be a quick walkthrough. It was quite inspiring, though, and I’m tempted to maybe start a bit of gardening on the terrace. The inside is pointless, unfortunately, because both cats will immediately begin to chew on any flowers. Such a shame, because there are a number of flower stands around the city with some beautiful blooms.
Once I do decide to buy something — be it flowers or fabric — I now know how to ask for what I want. We met up with the usual crowd last night and I worked on my Dutch a bit, and have managed to remember some of it! If I want to buy some fabric, I should say “Mag ik twee meters van deze stof” or “Ik wil graag twee meters.” I also worked on the pronunciation of ij, but that still seems to be more a matter of luck when I get it right.
