Batavia Stad is a designer clothing outlet shopping centre a few km’s from where we live. Some friends jealously wonder why we don’t live there permanently. Well the truth is, I don’t like shopping!

Yes … I’m a woman! Gosh, just ask my husband about the nightmare it was to find my wedding dress … (he was the only person I could entrust with the goal, so we did that together). Marcel has the patience of Job when it comes to spending time in stores.

He’s normally quite happy to wait patiently while I try on the umpteenth shirt and get all huffy because yet again the sizes aren’t right … I mean how does it work when the same body on the same day can wear a M, L, XL and XXL? The same body!! No wonder I find it annoying.

Thankfully this frustration isn’t so bad since we’ve started shopping at Batavia. Firstly the clothes are designer, so they’ve been designed and fabricated well, and secondly I can usually find something I like! The clothing normally likes me too and doesn’t make me look like a bag-lady or a toad trying to squeeze into a champagne glass.

But the bestest thing for me is my husband. You know, he even finds alternatives for me!! Respecting the max. 3 or 5 articles per changing room, he takes back discarded shirts, trousers, skirts and then … finds something else that I like! I swear he knows me better than I know myself … So I was more than happy to return the favour!

Marcel mentioned that he was looking for a good winter jacket. And his birthday is coming up real soon. So after trying our luck in Amsterdam the day before (read Croquettes and Kilkenny in Amsterdam) and finding the prices too steep, we marched ourselves off to Batavia Stad.

I was jumping at the chance to fetch and carry and offer alternatives. We even treated ourselves to lunch at La Place. If you also enjoy healthy, yummy food … it’s la place to go (he he he). Here are some pics from our birthday shopping spree at Batavia Stad.