Along the market square

The gift shop / candy store at the market square in Bourtange.

End of year shopping

The Kleine Kerkstraat in Leeuwarden.

Garden ornaments

We passed by the Garden Ornaments Farm in the village of Schoonloo yesterday afternoon and stepped in to have a look. And well, they obviously come in all sizes, shapes, and materials! I doubt the sphinx was for sale though..  ;)

.. but there were a lot of other -more manageable- things in the back garden.

Yellow and blue

This former warehouse sells presents and home accessories.

The brushes shop

As the guided city walk in Deventer was on a Saturday, a visit to the famous Deventer brushes shop at the Menstraat was included - it has opening hours on Saturdays only, and occasionally on Sundays too. The shop window shows part of the merchandise...

 ... that consists of more than 150 different kinds of brushes and brooms.

Founded in 1860, it is the oldest shop of Deventer. Until the 1950s the brushes and brooms were manufactured in a workplace behind the shop, but after a fire only the shop was left - and has been in business since today. The lady behind the counter was happy to tell us all about it!

Meppel streets

The shopping streets in the centre of Meppel are car-free. In the background is the Maria Church, a reformed church dating from the 15th century.

Happy Friday!

Louise

A pretty and elegant sign from the Smedenstraat in the city centre of Deventer.

"Louise" is a ladies' fashion store. I'm linking to signs, signs.

Cheese and more

This shop located at the Kleine Kerkstraat in the city of Leeuwarden specialises in cheese, nuts, olives, home made salads and much more. The ´cheese-bicycle' on my header photo is part of their advertising. It was right behind me from where I took this photo.

Ribe shopping

Shopping in the town centre of Ribe, Denmark. Note the lion above the entrance.

This dog was very patient and had a friendly look. Did he or she belong to the art shop owner, or maybe to a customer who went inside?

Another scene..

..from the old centre of Delft.

Delft centre

The historic town centre of Delft, seen from the central square..

..and shops selling typical Dutch items like Delft Blue pottery and cheese.

Herestraat, Groningen

View into the Herestraat, the main shopping street in the city of Groningen. It has been a pedestrian zone since the 1960s, until then trams and trolley buses rode here.

Diezerstraat

View into the Diezerstraat, the main shopping street in Zwolle.

Jewellery shop sign

Above the entrance of Duijvestein Juweliers (Duijvestein Jewellery) in the Diezerstraat in Zwolle hangs a pretty clock, or large pocket-watch. Isn't it nice with it's golden details..

The main purpose of a sign is to attract attention, and I think it does just that. For me anyway ;)

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Balcony view

Still not done with showing you impressions from our city trip to Bruges in November :) This photo was made while standing on the 'panorama-view balcony' of the Beer Museum, located at the market square. Zooming in to the other end of the square we looked right into one of the shopping streets that was nicely decorated for Christmas. The white tree on the left was in the centre of the ice-rink.

I'm linking to All Seasons

The Hague Arcade

This is The Hague's Arcade (De Passage in Dutch). Built between 1882 and 1885 it is the oldest shopping arcade in The Netherlands, and an official UNESCO monument. Inside are passageways, glass atria, pedestrian bridges, and of course a number of boutique stores.