Visitors from Hilversum

One of Francine’s former colleagues is a Dutch guy living in Hilversum. We have visited him and his wife a couple of times at their house. This time, they planned to make the 90-minute trip up to Havelte so we could have lunch together once again.

Enter: the fly in the ointment. All the restaurants in Havelte seem to be closed on Tuesdays (and often Mondays, come to that).

So, our resourceful Dutch friends consulted the good ol’ Internet and found a restaurant that appealed to them in a village called Ruinen, a mere 11kms away. They duly arrived to pick us up and off we gently sped in a hybrid Toyota Rav4 – very roomy, plenty of legroom.

Ruinen’s notable feature seems to be that it still has a grassy village “square”. Most of these have been paved over for parking, we were told.

The weather was kind and it was pleasant enough to sit at a table outside. The fare at the restaurant was largely based on flatbreads with various toppings. Nothing exceptional, perhaps, though Francine was very pleased with her salmon version. The beer was good, though, and I wasn’t driving.

We made a small diversion into Havelte itself on the way back to Jelly’s Hoeve, to stop at the coffee shop in town. This was yet another establishment whose card reader didn’t accept our prepaid cash card so I resorted to the real thing.

Posted in 2024 Summer