I say I live in Breda, Netherlands, but truly we live on the outskirts of Breda in a little village called Bavel. It’s adorable and tiny, and I love the vibe of it. Today I needed to go to the post office to pick up a package, and I decided to take a few pictures while I was there. I didn’t get a chance to walk around all of the square….it is a little bigger than what I was able to capture. If the weather cooperates this weekend, I will try to take some more pictures.
Of course, in the middle of every city and village here, is the church, standing tall and majestic.
The building on the left side of the above picture is the post office. It is small, has a bit of everything inside, and it’s cute. Here is post office…
Across from the post office is a beautiful cemetery. I didn’t go inside, as I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to. But I did stand beside it for a while and just…. enjoyed its serenity. It was quiet, the sun was peaking through the clouds, and the birds were chirping. I could have enjoyed that moment for the rest of the day!
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This is a house right next to the cemetery… and I thought it was adorable!
Here are the businesses that are located directly across from the church. The clothing store, a fruit and vegetable market, a wine shop, a butcher, a baker, but no candlestick maker. Around the corner from here is an Albert Heijn (main grocery store), some other boutique clothing shops, and some restaurants.
Many of the clothing shops here are more like small boutiques. They are quaint and small, and usually have a limited selection of clothes. But there is a clothing shop here in Bavel that defies that stereotype. It really is like stepping into an Alice In Wonderland scene. Here is the store front…a normal looking “house” type of business… very typical architecture here.
But when you walk in…somehow they have created a space that is amazing. They have actually won awards on their design of this store. They have clothing and shoes for men, women, and children. Here’s the view as soon as you walk in…
And it just goes on… and on… for a total of 4 floors!!
On the fourth floor are the baby and Children’s clothes. And they even thought of the kids who would be shopping with mom and/or dad! On the fourth floor is an Xbox 360 and a place to draw and color. Not pictured – a separate room down on the floor with Women’s clothing that is set up just for kids… complete with bean bags on the floor and a movie playing to entertain the tots while their parents shop. Today, Frozen was playing a little boy was watching the movie (which is why I didn’t take a picture).
**You may wonder why there are hardly people in my pictures. I wait until I can get a shot where they are not in the picture. I would feel weird about taking pictures of strangers and having them on my blog. This store was actually really bustling with people, and I had to wait around for a while sometimes to get a shot! And I didn’t get a picture of the small café/coffee shop that was also in there because there were quite a few people having a bite to eat or enjoying a cup of coffee.
Here is the fruit/vegetable market.
Beside the fruit/vegetable market is the wine shop… complete with vines of grapes growing on the outside.
Beside the wine shop is a butcher shop. I didn’t get any pictures of it because there was a line of people waiting in there already! But it’s said to be the best butcher shop in the area, and people come from all around Breda to the small little Bavel Butcher to get their meat. The butcher owner also owns the bakery next door. And a friend told me they have 10+ people working on Saturday mornings to fill people’s orders, and the line is so long, you will stay wait 40+ minutes to be served!!
They had any kind of bread you could want, and their baked goods looked yummy! So of course I picked a few to try this weekend!
We really enjoy living here. We love the more laid-back feel of the village. Everything we need is close by, either in Bavel or Breda. And the people we have met so far, have all been so very warm and friendly.
From Here to There - A Move Across an Ocean 