If you spend enough time wandering around Dutch cities, especially in the historic centers, you might never notice a full-on shopping mall. Sure you'll find shopping streets, districts, markets... but this very familiar American style shopping mall, they're not all that common in my experience.

One place I know they have a big one is Rotterdam. So let's say you find yourself in Rotterdam, it's raining, and you happen to be longing for that shopping mall feeling - one place you could go is the Alexandrium Shopping Center.

Accessible via train, metro, car or bike, the Alexandrium boasts 474,000 square feet of every kind of shop you can think of, as well as food and drink places. Unlike American malls it is open 6 days per week and sometimes Sunday as well. The café's serve decent food, so even just as a lunch spot one can pop-in at mid-day.

As a visitor in this country, a megastore where you can buy furniture and groceries in bulk is perhaps not of great importance. But perhaps clothes, music, electronics, and specialty shops... you might just be into that. Oh and yes, it is now smoke free.

Hand made toys, nostalgic sideboards, and traditional candy are only some of the throwbacks one can find a the Winkeltje Kouwenhoven in Delft. A shop that goes all the way back to 1867, it originally specialized in chemicals, paints, glass work, as well as being a pharmacy.

Technically, having become part of the Het Prinsenhof museum in 1985, it is no longer officially a shop. But that doesn't mean you can't walk in and experience the flavors of the late 1800's and early 1900's, or even take some home with you.

The store is located on the Sint Agathaplein 3a, in the heart of beautiful Delft. Several trains per hour leave from Amsterdam Central Station to Delft, the trip takes about an hour, and costs 20 euro round trip.

I feel like I don't give enough love to the Frisians and Friesland on the blog? It is possible that you've not yet been to the Netherlands and perhaps you haven't heard the name Friesland before. For info about that region, a good place to start is ye olde wikipedia entry.

Today I randomly stumbled upon the site: friesland-products.nl . A mostly unremarkable website, but I was interested in what good products that region way up north produces.

The list seems to include:

-Several kinds of Cheese -Frisian Beer Jenever, a pure grain alcohol -Frisian Cake Snacks (??!)

I realize these items may not sway you, as beer, cheese, alcohol, and cake are not quite for everyone. Still, that is what the site is advertising. At this point I can only vouch for the cheese. Update when I've tried any of the other 3.

I'd hate to become a marketing tool for KLM, because I'm certainly not, but I do like me some airplanes.

Of course I wish they would produce less emissions. Of course I wish I could take a train to the United States or Thailand. But as of right now, I can't, so like you, I take the winged animals we call airplanes. What's more, I like looking at airplanes, including the old ones.

I was wandering Amsterdam's Schiphol airport over the weekend and I noticed a new shop. Actually I didn't notice the shop initially, I just noticed this huge set of landing gear in front of a shop, followed by the nose section of a KLM plane. What is this place?, I thought to myself.

Wouldn't you know it, the KLM store has opened for your airplane souvenir needs. I went in and perused the model airplanes and the flight suits. I even peeked into the cockpit of the piece of plane where children were getting their picture taken. Remember when we used to go to the cockpit during the flight to do that? Ah well.

The KLM store is good fun. Gifts for all ages, including way too many related to the new Airbus A380 super jumbo. Imagine falling asleep on a super-jumbo-jet pillow?!

According to the National Geographic, the Dappermarkt in Amsterdam East is not to be missed. Considered to be 'off the tourist track' and as a 'true people's market', the Dappermarkt is 'situated right in the middle of Amsterdam's multicultural area'. It's true that you can find cheap clothing, cheap vegetables and cheap meats, but coming in at number 8 on the list of top 10 world street markets is not as surprising as being mentioned ahead of the Albert Cuypstraat market, arguably the most famous market in the Netherlands. Top of the list is Hell's Kitchen Flea Market in New York City, followed by one in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.

Other cities mentioned include Bangkok, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Milan, Paris, London and Delhi. But if you're here in Amsterdam, just jump on trams 9 or 14 to reach the Dapper.

Somehow I find myself wandering the streets of the Hague very early in the morning, just as normal people are heading to work. On this particular day, I'm not heading to work.. I'm not really heading anywhere, but I'm hungry and I could use some decent wifi access.

The Netherlands only has 1 Starbuck's, but it is not without it's chain coffee depots. Among them, a place called "the coffee company" has a presence in all the major cities.

So there I am wandering the streets hungry and feeling internet withdrawn, when I spot one of these coffee companies. I head towards the entrance and examine the inside before I officially reach the door. It is barren, generic, and not appealing. I quickly do a u-turn and head back down the street.. convinced there are more fish in the sea.. hopefully some fish that have personality.

I had no idea how right I could be. Out of the corner of my eye, I see an orange awning with some outdoor seating under it. Inside I see a counter full of various baked goods and the walls are decorated with fun pictures and some clever t-shirts.. apparently for sale. Little did I know, I was about to walk into Dishy.

Dishy considers itself an expresso bar, according to the sign.. but they also do food and catering if you so require it. The lady behind the counter, in her charming way, told me there was plenty of wifi for me and poured me a cup of hot chocolate. Now people always use terms like "best ever" excessively. I don't want to be one of those people. But honestly, I can remember few cups of hot choco this good... this.. potent! I asked the nice lady why it was so good --- "we put chocolate bars in it.." she points to some assorted chocolate bars on the counter. I was surprised... this whole time the idea had not occurred to me.. good hot chocolate demands chocolate bars melted in your drink.

From then on I knew she and her café were brilliant. I ordered cake and watched other people drink their coffee and order their own cakes. All of them delicious, every last costumer.. satisfied.

I took my sweet time leaving Dishy... the truth is.. I didn't want to leave.

Noordeinde 21
2514 GB Den Haag
Opened everyday, morning til 5pm

Its more like a shrine than a shop. Once you step inside Aboriginal Art & Instruments, you've stepped into a shrine dedicated to this beautiful instrument and this rich culture. You're not bombarded with sales stickers and advertisements, you're blown away by hand crafted genius.

Over the years I've had friends who've fallen in love with the Didgeridoo and the store that introduced it to them here in Amsterdam. And whenever I walk by I find myself having to step inside at least for a few minutes to look at the lovely things on display.

So if any of this sounds like your style, just walk west 2 blocks from Dam square on the corner of Singel and across the street from the Albert Hein. It may not qualify as a Dutch experience, but I assure you, Aboriginal Art is very Amsterdam.

Being pulled in many directions in this the final stretch before the holidays. For now I wanted to inform you the public about extending shopping hours in Amsterdam. They call it Koopavonden... literally Buy-Evenings; when shops extended their normal hours (which are typically til 5 or 6). During Koopavond days shops will be opened until 10pm.

The next few dates for extended hour nights are: this Thursday the 20th, Friday the 21st, and Sunday the 23rd. This effects all the good shopping districts, especially in the center of town. Other cities may have similar initiatives, I haven't really heard/seen specifics.

People often ask, are they as holiday shopping crazy in the Netherlands as they are in the US? The simple answer is YES. This whole week, all day and into the evening, you can bet the shopping streets are filled. The only difference is you don't have to worry about finding a parking space.

It is the holiday season. And by holidays Im thinking of all those special days that involve you having to give a gift to someone. Or even birthdays, lot's of birthdays in December.. including mine.. today.

On this fine day I wanted to share with you one of my favorite gifts to bring my friends in different parts of the world when I visit them from Amsterdam. It is a gift that costs very little, is very rare in the world, and you must have a taste for.... It is a word many of us know very well... BEER.

Now hold on.. I'm not talking about a can of beer with the Heineken label painted on the aluminum. I'm not talking about a six-pack of Palm in your suitcase to greet uncle bob with. NO NO.. this is a luxury item. Available only in Amsterdam.. for the most part.
A fine locally brewed beer from the Ij Brewery.

I hope this doesn't give away my best gift choice to all my friends, but if I'm travelling somewhere, I've usually got 2 bottles of some fine Ale from the IJ. It is dark.. it is tastefully labelled with the Ostrich standing in front of the Windmill. And for beer lovers or collectors... it is a fun experience to taste some authentic Amsterdam.

And to make things even easier, you don't have to go to the Brewery to get them. I get fine from the local organic grocery stores, known as Natuurwinkel. So if you're in town and you want to bring a gift for someone you know has a penchant for brews of the world, pick up an Ij Brewery beer. Let me know how that works out for ya.

Over the past few months you've no doubt noticed me mention staples of Amsterdam that are under threat and will soon be extinct. These have included magic mushrooms and a large number of prostitution windows which the government has bought to convert to something else.

The latest item on their path of destruction is the institution known as the "Grow Shop". You know a grow shop because, as the name indicates, there will be lots of plants for you to admire. If you're up for it you can even buy your own marijuana plants from these green thumbed entrepreneurs.

But according to the local Amsterdam TV station, a list of conservative parties in Dutch parliament have declared grow shops to be cesspools of organized crime and illegal drug sales. They insist that getting rid of growshops will help fight this crime, yet somehow big-name existing growshops will not be effected.

Once again my advice is to stop putting off your visit to Amsterdam AND your visit to a growshop. So see the plants and hear about all the hardwork and love these growers put into their weed. Do it soon because if the Dutch government gets its way, we will once again lose something very unique to this country.