Enschede Farmer's Market

My Saturday morning routine is to cycle to Enschede's farmer's market which is around 20 minutes from my place in Witbreuksweg. I always choose to leave at around 9 to be able to get more fresh products and avoid the crazy crowd that normally starts at 11 and beyond. You can also go with bus number 1 or 9 and stop just besides the market. Actually, we have so many supermarkets around our campus which is closer than the farmer's market. However, I feel like I need to entertain myself by the crowd and the ambience of this place where people literally go out of their house and buy a lot of things or just simply having snacks. From the Enschede central station you can walk for about 10 minutes to reach this place which is in a big square area in front of the Primark. I usually park my bike in between those places. There are also a direct bus that is located just next to it to almost all direction of Enschede. The market is opened since the morning around 8 to 17 which is so nice even if you like to sleep a lot on Saturday morning. 

We will be welcomed by the flowers area of the market. Here you can find so many colorful flowers and plants I do not have back home with the price of 3 eur or more, including or excluding the basket or the vases. They also sell a big variety of seeds that you can plant by yourself at home. Behind this, you can also find flowers that are already in bouquet. I was planning to buy this for my birthday but I could not make it. Also, everytime I compare to the bouquet in Indonesian florists either in the market or online, I always get sick by the price differences. I have to admit that my people are indeed artistic and if they work here they will surely earn huge amount of money, for real. 

Next, you can find the clothing area where they mostly sell T-shirts, jackets, hoodies and also some leather products like wallet, bags and belt. They also have interesting winter socks stall with many discounts. I honestly like this leather shop because they really sell nice designed products with affordable price. I am not that interested in the clothing sections because you can also find similar stuff in the nearby department stores. In the same line, there are several stalls that sell electronic stuff like blender, mixer, water heater together with cooking utensils. Some stalls also sells mobile phone accessories, power banks, selfie sticks and also phone holder for your bike. I got one there for mine. 

The star of this market is the hallway of the fruit and vegetable section. This area is so vivid that I can just stand there and just enjoy the people doing transactions. Most of the seller are friendly and you can pay by cards (dutch bank acoount only). I mostly only spend maximum 10 eur to have kgs of fruits and vegetables here. If you come at 11, the crowd is so crazy that you have to queue. Some of the stalls do not let you take the things by yourself but you just need to tell them how many kgs you want and they will get it for you. I have impression that everything is so fresh and healthy. You can also find a big bakery stall behind this fruit stall which sells interesting pastries, cookies and bread with interesting staff. 

Behind the fruit and vegetable section is the fish and meat section. I tried to buy salmon here but the price is actually not significantly different from the one in supermarket and I do not know that at the end I love better the frozen one from supermarket. This is for me a very interesting findings. They also sell lots of chorizo and different kinds of sausages. In this part, they also give you some testers that you can take with you along. I have my fixed chicken shop where they sell all parts of chicken only. I always feel better and safer to buy something from a store that really specialize on it. 

Other highlight of the market is the street food stalls which are mostly the fried fish, fried calamari ring with some kind of special white sauce. They also sell some bradwurst sometimes with fries or bread. People are really coming to this market for this despite the crazy queue. i have only tasted the bratwurst and fries and it was good. We can also eat directly there because they also provide some places to eat. The fish is really big and they really load it in buckets and buckets of fresh fishes. Not only the dutch version of street food, you will find some springrolls stall from Vietnam or with some touch of Indonesia. 

Besides the greasy fried stuff, we also have interesting sweet disposition like Churros and my favorite Poffertjes. Poffertjes is like mini pancake with powedered sugar, melted butter and honey/syrop on top of it. This is one of Dutch colonialization product that still exist in Indonesia since I was a kid. If you do not know, Indonesia was under Dutch colonialization for about 350 years before claiming its independence in 1945. I am really in love with the poffertjes in this farmer's market despite the price of 4 euros, I really felt that they melt in my mouth. They are so fluffy and warm on this weather. I haven't tried the churros yet but this stall kind of give you the sense of being in a fair with big ferris-wheel whenever I see it.

Just along the way you can continue your shopping day by visiting some stores like HEMA, New Yorker, Primark and other interesting boutiques. I normally passed by some Asian shop to restock my rice and noodles. A shop that I always like to visit is called Action which basically sells everything with lower prices. It sells notebooks, room decorations, lights, pyjamas, christmas decoration, bike spareparts and a lot more. Sometimes I just go there without even buying anything. It is also lovely to stay a bit before going home to have a little dip in a cafe or an icecream shop near the train station. One of my favourite café is Meisje, just near Primark. The picture above was taken here, they are so good and the service was awesome. I don't know why but the way back home always feels a lot shorter than coming here. People say that the way home is more flat or even going down in terms of its contour. Everytime I go home from the market I feel more alive yet relax. This is my only entertainment in this little city, Enschede. This is also why Saturday is the day I am waiting for for the whole week! 

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