Haarlem, The Netherlands

With winter finally on its way down to the southern hemisphere, the weather in Holland is becoming a lot nicer. The days are more comfortable, and with the extra sun light that day light saving provided, the energy in the smaller towns across Holland is really coming alive.

The first good sign over summer coming is the reappearance of Al Fresco dining. Small cafes that have been asleep for the last five months are now setting up large out door dining areas. Some of these cafes during winter may only have five or six tables, now have an extra 120+ seats to utilize. Ice cream shops, which during the winter months is smarter to simply close, now have line ups out the door and we still have not had a day above 15oCFor most of us that are used to having year round out door seating this may seem a little weird.

For the last four months in Holland there has not been the chance just to have a coffee and enjoy the sunshine with out snow, wind and rain. With masses of sun starved Europeans making their way out on the streets to enjoy the sun, it is a nice time to be in Europe. In years gone by, the excitement level at this time of the year, would mark the return of spring seasonal fruit and vegetables back on the shelves at the local fruit market. But in recent years you can get most things year round, this is a good and bad thing.

The good is that people can eat what ever they want all year round, the bad is the money that is sent off shore to different countries, which in turn makes it harder for the local farmers to survive. There is also the Environment problem associated with international importation, caused by shipping the produce thousands of miles.

So as the seasons change make your self aware of the foods that are changing around you, Try and eat food in line with what is best available in your local area. You may find yourself eating food that you may not normally eat, but enjoy them and know that your money is staying in the local economy.

Granville Island Market, Vancouver, British Columbia

As the winter Olympics has just wound up in Vancouver, I thought a good place to start my blog would be at the Granville Island Market of Vancouver. The Granville Island Market is located just over the Bridge from Van Downtown, it is a comfortable 20 minute walk or there is also the option of catching one of the many buses that make there - their way thru to West Van.The Market has a wide selection of different things including lots of art and craft shops, but of course the main reason I went was to check out the food stalls. The food part of the market is mainly located under one roof with an international style food court on the southern side of the building. Before walking the market stalls it is great place to start with a coffee.

The seafood in Vancouver is a real eye opener; being on the West coast of Canada (the seafood) it is super fresh. A lot of the fish mongers have live tanks for oysters, clams, crabs, prawns, mussels and lobster, the sound of the running water is music to the ears. The butchers in the market have a huge selection of different meat for the budget shopper thru to Food Savvy, home gourmets! The servers are very willing to answer any questions and chat about different foods. Fruit and veg is great quality and being in the warmer part of Canada it is vibrant and very tasty!

Vancouver is a very multi cultural city and this is very evident at the market, with stalls of imported cheeses, deli’s with cured meats from all over the world and some very tasty local fair.-as well as a good splash of fresh Asian ingredients. A big plus for me!

The Granville Island market is open until 7 pm, seven days a week. You can easily spend a couple of hours wandering thru the stalls tasting the delights, then take some snakes snacks for the walk back to Down Town!