Today was about reconnecting with Al and Ads and their beautiful dog Brontë who photobombed perfectly.
We awoke to a lot of rain but we decided that Brontë still needed her daily constitutional walk. We headed off to a place called the Tea House which was an area that was forested and had a gorgeous green canopy of trees. Brontë is nearly 12 years old and she is starting to feel the effects of having arthritis so her walks now are very short.
Very near the end of our walk, Hughie decided to start chucking it down so we made for the Tea House which was a delightful establishment in this forested glen. It was rustic and very welcoming to dogs.
After warming ourselves up and imbibing in some of the culinary delights, we headed home via a bit of a tourist route.
Al and Ads live in a beautiful area about a 25 minute train ride south east of Amsterdam. They are about half way to the city of Utrecht.
Ads is developing an importing business for Australian wines and he did introduce us (two wine philistines) to some rather exquisite red wine from his cellar. Di who declares she is not a drinker, drank waaay too much of this stuff. Then Ads mentions it was 10 years old and what he paid for it 10 years ago – obviously, Di has a refined palate – in other words, Di has champagne taste on a beer budget.
After that little food fest, we rested until the next food onslaught. We took the guys out to their local pub and had a hearty meal – and we wonder why our clothes are getting tight on us and we are only a quarter of a way into this trip.
Brontë wasn’t happy when we left the house and gave us THE GLARE!
In the evening, we sat and watched a bit of the Tour de France and Wimbledon. End, to what was a perfect day. Oh, and we did our washing – the nemesis of all travellers.
Al and Ads have a typical two story house with an attic in a very leafy neighbourhood. The homes do not have large footprints as land here is precious, so they build up. The staircases (same in the UK) are not as we know staircases to be where they are spacious and often take up a lot of real estate in a home. Here they are basically ladders!!! So steep and so dangerous but it is just the way that it is.
We have watched Al and Ads over the years turn their garden into such an oasis. It very much makes us want to purchase our next place with a little bit of land – we don’t need a lot of garden but enough for the soothing effects of a green lawn that a dog or two can play on!!!
Steps 1,108 – obviously my Fitbit had run out of power – well that is our story and we are sticking to it.
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