A DELICIOUS DAY IN BREDA ☀️ (what to do in the netherlands)

In this episode, Michelle and Alex explore Breda, the city sometimes called "the pearl of the South". In addition to climbing atop the Grote Kerk in the center of town, they also try the famous(?) "ginnekoek", and eat at a restaurant that promises to "make potatoes great again".
Episode 122 · Filmed on March 6 and 7, 2024 · Breda, the Netherlands
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0:00 Introduction
0:36 Welcome to Breda!
0:58 Lunch (Sip First)
1:53 First, Michelle's lunch...
2:19 ...then Alex's lunch
2:40 Blind Walls Gallery (mural walk)
4:04 Grote Kerk
4:57 Trying ginnekoek (Bakker Joppen)
6:06 Exploring Breda (city walk)
6:51 What's the plan for dinner?
7:39 Food Hall Breda
8:34 First, Michelle's dinner...
9:19 ...then Alex's dinner
10:23 Now, it's time for...
11:07 De Jongens van Zand en Klei
11:36 A basket made of potatoes?!
12:06 Are people really eating less potatoes?
12:41 Climbing the Grote Kerk in Breda
13:33 Wrap up
#netherlands #expatlife #breda
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WHO IS BUNCHARTED?
We're Michelle and Alex, an American expat couple living abroad in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱
In 2020, we quit our jobs to travel the world, and... well, that didn't happen. So in 2022, we decided to make an even BIGGER change: to pack up our lives (and our cats 🐈) and move from Austin, Texas, in the United States, to the Netherlands. Subscribe for new videos like this every week!

[@mariosolognier714]

I grow up here 25 years ago!! Now i live in Aruba!! Still have family there!!

[@EdTheFlyingDutchMan]

Wow Alex, that was a perfectly pronounced “goedemorgen.” That gutteral G sounded like a real Dutch one. ;-) You sound like a real kaaskop, kudo's.

[@PieterBreda]

Breda is awesome. Absolutely amazing city. Great people too. Guess where I live.

[@macmartin86]

Groningen?

[@timofransen3744]

Not Tilburg 😅

[@ramonamaramis]

Never ever before in my bunchartered fellowship history i felt so much pressure watching you rating food i recommended so heavily lol. Glad you enjoyed it (and thanks that you saved my reputation with rating the carbonara with 4 stroopwafels Michelle😄

[@buncharted]

we’re glad we went! thanks for the recommendation!

[@ramonamaramis]

❤️

[@umbertoyltp]

That potato basket was a very beautiful piece of art!❤

[@Mikamura89]

At 4 min mark, could not stop laughing at the “eikel” art 😂

[@stragulus]

I love that the thing you guys decided was not a cookie is literally called 'not a cookie' in Brabants (ginne koek = not a cookie). Whether that's the origin of the name I have no idea!

[@buncharted]

haha that’s funny! the origin has to be the neighborhood it’s in but hey, who knows 😄

[@RikFTK]

The hood the baker is in is called Ginneken. But I'm pretty sure Ginnekoek is a pun based on the name of the area and not a cookie.

[@teszik]

​@@buncharted You're right the origin is the neighbourhood, Ginneken used to be a village. On January 1, 1942, the village of Ginneken was annexed by Breda.

[@MichelBaek]

Breda looks very nice and the food looks delicious. Breda definitely on my list to go to this spring/summer. Have fun eating Autodrop in the bathroom 😝. ❤❤❤

[@lillekenatnek195]

Good to see you in my hometown :D awesome

[@Mausie91]

I live like 20 minutes from Breda i work there for my job and been so many times in Breda and seeing new things at your channel amaze me as a Dutch person😅. Lovely to see you explore more south city's i live in Geertruidenberg and this is the oldest town of Holland! Come here in the summer on sundays and they have like people that re do the living in that time period with canons and so one! They called Bergsche Batterij. And the center is small but lit of beautiful old buildings. Thanks for your beautiful video from Breda❤ Greetings Maurice from Geertruidenberg

[@danielpalland37]

Geertruidenberg isnt the oldest town.. It's Nijmegen and the smaller towns its Beek in Limburg :)

[@m.vantveer3475]

The oldest town with cityrights. Dordrecht claims this to. Its a nuance thing.

[@dpgvanthiel]

No its not, Nijmegen is a city for more toen 2000 years

[@michiganstad]

@@danielpalland37 whatever ...

[@michiganstad]

@@dpgvanthiel okay enne daar is geen andere town < in Nederland > dat ook deze jaartallen kan claimen ???

[@jeffafa3096]

I love potato dishes! There are sooo many great recipes with potatoes, it's one of the best cooking ingredients! I don't think they will ever disappear from our menu...

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew

[@velsen232459]

Thank you dear people. I watched more of your videos this weekend and decided to go to TERSCHELLING again, after 15 years. Ik wacht op mooi weer; zonder storm en regen.

[@GoliathAngelus]

Nog nooit in Breda geweest. Dank zei jullie staat het nu op de lijst

[@LalaDepala_00]

Gezellige stad met een dorpsgevoel. Zelf geboren en opgegroeid in Eindhoven. Voel me in Breda meer thuis.

[@timofransen3744]

​@@LalaDepala_00Breda is echt geen dorp 😅 het wordt hier drukker en drukker 😉

[@LalaDepala_00]

@@timofransen3744 "Dorpsgevoel", niet "dorp".

[@yoghidrinkz]

Wat leuk dat jullie eindelijk eens in mijn stadje zijn 😁

[@BigBellyBreda]

Apologies not accepted. We demand a visit. 🫡🍻

[@elsvanzwoll]

😂

[@whatElse88]

Oh, ik kom uit Breda, heeeel benieuwd naar deze vid! :D

[@whatElse88]

So that was fun and I never went to ''de jongens van zand en klei'' but im gonna! That looked so creative. Coffee bar Sowieso is my fav to get my iced coffee during the hot summer days.. I hope you will come back for 'big belly' cause im curious haha and hopefully there done with recreating the haven cauz from what ive seen it's going to look so beautiful and maybe you chill at 'Baai' to, maybe take a boat or walk to 'stek' and 'Pier15' now its still there(unfortunately Brack is already gone)? :D hope to see you back but thanks for this awesome vid!😃

[@BeYou-Music]

It was amazing I been cycling to the sea of Noordwijk today with my roommate on a duo bike so he can ride it and I put in the effort haha it’s called “fietsmaatjes” in Dutch and is was a amazing day 😅we ended up doing 39 km and 430 meters in total ❤🎉

[@Krystalfaye]

There’s Cholula at the expat shop in Utrecht. Also I did enjoy that montage, very artistic.

[@buncharted]

we found it at the expat shop in rotterdam! i have no clue how we missed it before… we’ve been eating eggs with it like three times a week since finding it 😂

[@rowenacandyengracial4526]

Hello Buncharted☺️. I am always looking forward for your vlogs, it is so informative and entertaining. Shout out to all Filipinos in the Netherlands😊❤❤

[@itomg]

Lovely vlog as always. Keep 'm coming!

[@LindaIneson]

If you have not been to Haarlem yet i could tell you some of the good places to visit, i lived there my whole life up to 9 months ago when i moved to Australia

[@ruud2040]

Love you guys. I have bean working as a driver for 25 years crossing from the north to the sounth ,west to east but, it's nice to see the places the way you do, couse i never had time for that. Thank you.👍. Come vissit Purmerend on a teusday, market day.

[@MartinWebNatures]

Loved the video again❤ as always

[@marcelburgers7485]

Wat een leuke video weer! Bedankt!

[@grimmhaven]

Potatoes always have been and will remain great!

[@peterjanssen2105]

top video again, Thank you for the time you keep putting in,

[@jobzwart3449]

Hi Michelle & Alex, I saw on Instagram that you wanted people to choose a city which you should visit, and Tiel, Geldermalsen and Den Bosch being the options. I have three other places for you should visit being: - Alkmaar, the wonderful city where on October 8th 1573 the Dutch victory began in the Eighty Years War against the Spanish. - Egmond aan Zee, a beautiful North Sea village dating back to the year 977 A.D. with also a Viking heritage, 10 kilometers from Alkmaar. - Den Helder, the Naval Port of The Netherlands at 41 kilometers from Alkmaar, being the hub for taking a trip to the island of Texel by ferry, which will take you 20 minutes. I’m sure you won’t regret visiting these places.

[@lactobacillusprime]

Een mooie stad. Great to see your take on it! :)

[@theoradestra7060]

Jullie zijn gewoon lekker om naar te kijken!

[@lennyvoogt9600]

Ik ben geboren in Breda, in het Ginneken! Mooie stad hè?! De Parel van het Zuiden🥰❤️

[@dennisvanslingerland2258]

Daar was vroeger een zeer goede Bonbon winkel, weet niet of hij er nog zit!?

[@dimrrider9133]

Hoge Vught ;p

[@veroniqueeverts5157]

I live in Breda, LOVE sip first! If you visit again, please explore the city, outside of downtown. So much to explore

[@deka331]

Yeah, you've visited my home town and even went to 't Ginneke. I hope you've had a great time.

[@worldoffaye]

You should come to the aaltjesdagen in Harderwijk in June. Lots of history and food (espacially fish, eel) and a festival and beach.

[@Rivalriesaroundtheworld]

There is so much other things to do in Breda. Try next time get in the boat and do the ‘singels’ tour. Also you forget to mention. Breda got a extensive military history. Was important strategic city during the 80 year war. Originally a Garrison town. And host the Dutch version of West Point. Kasteel Breda is a part of the military academy and officers training.

[@theflyingdutchguy9870]

fijne dag🙋

[@buncharted]

fijne dag en fijn weekend 😄

[@ilex471]

Although I have lived in Dordrecht my entire life, I was actually born in Breda, my mother's family is from there, and I know my way around the city-center fairly well. Did you happen to notice the icecream parlour in the vicinity of that potato place where you went? It is one of the best in the country. I know it's a little too cold to enjoy icecream now, but you really should go there if you go to Breda again. I don't know if you like icecream (or gelato, more specifically), because there are some very good gelato-shops in the Netherlands (and I don't mean those tourist-traps in Amsterdam where they charge you an arm and a leg for a tiny portion of factory-made icecream). The one in Dordrecht at the Vest is called La Venezia, and is one of the oldest Italian icecream parlours in the Netherlands. There used to be three good gelato-shops in Dordrecht city-center until very recently, but for some reason, only the oldest one is still there.

[@Paul_C]

And here I was, thinking you would cycle there... 😂

[@buncharted]

there’s a direct train from dordrecht!!! 😅😅😅

[@marcobreur.]

@@bunchartedTaken a turfschip would have been gangster

[@toddhunter5693]

i didn t see breda. only saw fooood. breda is super.i know. i lived there.

[@dimrrider9133]

My toughts. It was/is and will allways be my city but they didnt show much like allmost NOTHING.

[@paraglide01]

Funny lived in Breda for 40 years and you showed me more of my own town in 14 minutes. I didnt know FoodHall was open again. Thanks gonna give that carbonara a try.

[@TheLazyDutchGardener]

OMG you went to Joppen? Thats the bakery I always go to. I live super close. That is SO weird 😂. Cool weird though 😁

[@gusknip]

I think "Salsa Shop" locations have Cholula hot sauces available to help spice up their food... Or they have something that looks almost exactly the same.

[@pianistsdream]

Found your video by chance. I'm an expat from the UK and have lived in the Netherlands fr more than 30 years. When you were at Baker Joppen you were literally over the road from my house. If you ever need a broader look at this city, I would be happy to show you around.

[@StinkyCatFarts]

“Expat” you’re an established immigrant. Expats are ephemeral and have no long term plan to stay and are here solely for work.

[@QuartzNL]

It's Bray-DAH ;) (emphasis on 2nd syllable)

[@pietergreveling]

06:09 Brabants Swaffel Broodje! 🤣😋✌🏼

[@buncharted]

😂😂😂

[@lillekenatnek195]

😅🤣

[@_maghetweten]

12:25 potato potato. We Dutchies were like that too. Makes sense why Van Gogh has made a painting called: de aardappeleters. But since growing up as a kid it was every day cooked potatoes, mashed patotatoes with overcooked vegetable and meat. Aka aardappel groente vlees hence AVG. I grew bored about it being the main dish ingrediënt. Same goes for my sister. I rather eat pasta, rice, noodles, everything but plain old potatoes. So I get why that restaurant has chosen the potato to showcase the versatility. Sure I enjoy some stamppot in winter, and ofc gimme some good fries. But other than that I'm done with plain potatoes anyway. About Breda and Ginnekoek: da benne gene koek jonguh. Even though I am not from Brabant I get the name now. And I am not fond of the donut. Also I've only been to Breda also as a way to connect to other places. Like Den Bosch, Eindhoven en Maastricht. I rather take a bosschebol or Brabants worstenbroodje. Nice pun with that last one though! 😏

[@fredwester5705]

Kielegat is a nice town to visit..

[@You_Are_FNAF]

Please do woerden next!

[@heidiheeren5258]

Mooiste stad in het zuiden ❤

[@ikke5212]

😊😊

[@Raevan1957]

When you are still there go to "Klein Java" restaurant .. one of the authentic indonesian restaurant.

[@whatElse88]

Good one!

[@joannewink7101]

Zo fijn, dankzij jullie kom ik nog ergens hier in Nederland (longcovid is a bitch) Thank you❤❤

[@dimrrider9133]

lol covid is a fairy tale made by b1ll g

[@jonathanfinan722]

Many years ago, over thirty, I was in the Netherlands and there was a huge controversy because a school teacher said that teaching the kids Dutch was pointless because no one else understood it and everyone spoke great English anyway.

[@rondeblok]

You live in Dordrecht and have you ever been to Vila Augustus. looks like Hotel New York.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Potatoes are great in just about any way. Fried, grilled in the oven, on the bbq, in stews, gratins, mashed with some gravy. Did you know you can survive on a diet of nothing but potatoes, butter and milk? If you eat them in the skin instead of peeling them, that is. And if you have any potatoes left after all that cooking, you can make liquor with them.

[@jonwalzmusic]

Vegan carbonara!! Now we must go! 7:52

[@eddys.3524]

vijf Stroopwafels for this video...

[@wouterhoogers2615]

It's really nice to learn something about my city. I dislike the potato restaurant though, as potato was not the star of my dish. I mean.......... when you are so proud and fond of your origins of potato, you dont use potato jut to make a basket -a vessel to your dish-. Thats just a hard miss on the point you are trying to make Your follower was true though on the Italian Foodhall :)

[@PieterBreda]

Actually, the street in which you ate the bacon used to be pretty derelict but since the hotel was built, it is nice again.

[@buncharted]

hotel nassau?

[@PieterBreda]

@@buncharted idd

[@gusknip]

And something else: are the people behind that potato place also behind the (really weird) ads I have seen recently on IG where you can send someone a message on a potato (or with potato products)? 😂

[@buncharted]

that’s my love language

[@bertoverweel6588]

Hallo lovely people, you didn't visit the " poppenhuis museum " ? To bad. Groetjes

[@buncharted]

not this time, sadly!

[@whatElse88]

Btw een bad staat in the bathroom in Nederland 😌 assuming the bathroom meaning toilet?

[@velsen232459]

Ik krijg altijd honger als ik jullie zie. Persoonlijk vind ik Breda niet bijzonder; ik hou van: Amsterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht, Groningen, Maastricht. Do you ever visit family in the USA and make a video?

[@buncharted]

in december zijn we naar de VS geweest maar we maakten geen video 🥲

[@velsen232459]

I love that you guys are going your own way...@@buncharted

[@harrybruijs2614]

Take the train to Vlissingen and visit Bergen op Zoom, Goes, Middelburg and Vlissingen. Not on one day of course take a day each.

[@buncharted]

we’ve been to middelburg and goes! there are two videos on our channel 😄

[@harrybruijs2614]

@@bunchartedthen you have passed and missed Bergen op Zoom with the most beautifull mediëval palace you will see in the Netherlands and good eating. If you like real Italian food go to Napoli. I recommend Pasta a la parmigiano con tartufo nero or if your walt hungry one of the menu’s. 1397 is also worth a try. Called after the year the town burned down, except the hotel were it is located, the oldest hotel in the Netherlands de Draak and part of Het stadhuis de Olifant. Because the towns archive were burned nobody knows excactly how old de Draak is, but it is at least from 1397. The whole old town is a juwel if you ignore the first floors were the shops are located. Also visit the verborgen vesting. There are also two big war cemeteries, where the dead of the battle of the Scheldt are burried. Each year in october all the Canadians fallen in the Netherlands in WW2 are remembered there. This year it is the 80 ago that Bergen op Zoom was liberated

[@CakeboyRiP]

Breda is een gezellige stad. Maar is het leuker dan Maastricht? Wat vinden jullie?

[@buncharted]

veel steden in nederland zijn mooi 😄

[@whatElse88]

waarom vergelijken,😊 iedere stad heeft iets, its not a competition haha 😆

[@olivierkoers1780]

Would you invite your family to come and live in the Netherlands too? Cheers, Olivier

[@buncharted]

i think we prefer some distance 😂

[@Blackadder75]

we don't have room anymore

[@user-xb2jx9zx1k]

Carbonara should not have bacon on it, but Guanciale (cheek meat). Did they really use bacon for that?

[@buncharted]

the carbonara wasn't super authentic, but they *did* use guanciale

[@janjansen-rb9zm]

Are you guys gonna do any content regarding Eurovision?

[@elsvanzwoll]

Have you done a bootride in Dordrecht?

[@buncharted]

just the waterbus :)

[@elsvanzwoll]

That doesn’t count 😂😂

[@JanJaapZwaag]

Carbonara is not with bacon but panchetta

[@buncharted]

it’s actually with guanciale!

[@JanJaapZwaag]

@@buncharted yep...my mistake 😜

[@marcoj1290]

En nu kijk ik naar 2 Amerikanen in een Nederlandse stad die ik nog niet ken.

[@GabberPinda]

I don't want to ruin your day but we dont eat auto drop in the bathroom😳🤣

[@Rimpelmans]

Came for Breda, stayed for Michelle's organ impressions.

[@buncharted]

😂😂😂

[@DenUitvreter]

I think potatoes have the reputation of not being culinary at all, too much old fashioned homecooking. A lot of the potato dishes are also with seperate vegegtables and meat, the so called AVG, which is 3 or 4 pans and over half an hour of cooking, which is fine for a whole family meal but not inviting to young people. But also the pre peeled supermarket potatoes don't have much taste and fresh potatoes have been bred to be easier for the whole chain and easier to peel at the expense of taste. I eat a lot of them but only when I found a nice breed then after a few months the supermarket, Aldi for potatoes usually, switches to another brand that is in season.