I’ve had some unfortunate food in the short time I’ve been here…overcooked beef, and undercooked bacon (including a pasta salad with RAW bacon), and a strange cheeseburger that tasted like sausage with curry, and pasta cooked to a mush. But I have it figured out now. My breakfast buffet is included with my room rate at the hotel and it is amazingly hearty, which it should be since it would cost $25 if I had to pay for it. Beautiful breads and several kinds of meats and cheese and eggs and yogurt and fruit and juices, including strawberry juice and mango juice, and a variety of coffees. My favorite waiter is introducing me to the best varieties of each item, especially the coffee, which he personally prepares for me each morning, a double espresso with whipped cream and brown sugar. So I indulge myself in a protein-rich breakfast, caffeinate myself, and take a couple of pieces of fruit with me, usually a pear and a tangerine. The fruit goes into the minibar fridge in my room where I also keep some items from the train station convenience store – small baskets of beautiful tiny strawberries and excellent cashews. I eat the fruit and nuts during the day and as a snack in the evening so the only meal I need to purchase in a restaurant is dinner. I’ve tried a few dinner locations and it’s pretty hit or miss and sometimes ridiculously expensive. The only rule is that I must walk to dinner, wherever it might be. This is my favorite restaurant so far.
The Grand Café Wouters is actually right around the corner from the hotel and I’ve had two quite good meals there…a mixed grill of chicken, filet and beef and tonight’s salmon on a bed of tagliatelle with a white mushroom sauce, spinach and carmelized onions. The food was quite tasty and so plentiful I couldn’t finish either dish. Too bad there is no such a thing as a doggy bag in the Netherlands. I also enjoyed the Tao restaurant near the hotel. It is a sushi and tapas bar and has an interesting custom. For a fixed price, you may order five items at a time and you may order as many times as you wish -- all you can eat -- but you must finish every bite of your food. Any food left on the plate will be charged a sizeable penalty on your final bill.
I’m trying to walk at least one mile every day and I’ve now found my favorite walk that runs along a row of shops
Then next to a canal and the funny little ‘t Pannekoekschip restaurant situated on a boat in the canal.
Past the park across from my hotel.
Past the beautiful old house.
Then across the street from the Train Station
And back to the hotel for a coffee and research or writing or reading. I’m loving my life.
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