-
Unwind at Hotel Wilmersberg: Nature, Comfort, and Culinary Delights
This year we went for a short 1 week vacation in The Netherlands. First, we stayed 4 nights in Hotel Wilmbersberg in De Lutte near the German border. This is a really nice hotel with an excellent cook and nice grounds surrounding the hotel building. You can take a signed 30′ walk around the grounds with some older trees, probably +150 years old. Our rooms were on the ground floor and had a small terrace with a table and 2 chairs to sit on. The room also had a table with 2 chars and a set of 2 comfortable couches.…
-
Why Can’t FIFA Simply Apply the Rules During the World Cup?
Tonight the final of the 2026 world cup will be played between Spain and Argentina. There is already speculation about how Donald Trump will behave and if he will hand over the World Cup in case Spain would win. The fact that Argentina is in the final is a bit of a ‘miracle’ considering how they have played so far and how often they had to clinch victory in the final minutes of a game or even in overtime. What is even more miraculous is that no Argentinian was sent off during the semi-final. The first half of this semi…
-
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary
Last week I kind of stumbled into a record shop in Doesburg and scored this edition from the record from 2023. We have the 20th anniversary edition CD from 1992 but this vinyl version is of course a bit more luxurious with larger posters, lyrics and graphics overall. When you follow along with the lyrics in your hand the vinyl format is easier on the eyes and the larger format add visual flair to the cover design. Today we listened to the record and then decided to also listen to the CD directly afterwards to compare them. Both sound good…
-
Lunch Concert Review: Stabat Mater in Leuven
We went for a lunch concert in Leuven to listen to the Stabat Mater of Domenico Scarlatti this week. This concert is part of a yearly summer festival that is in its 25th edition this year. The concerts are short and super cheap at 8 euro per ticket. The downside is that there are no fixed seats and as we arrived relatively late we ended up on the second floor in what is called ‘de engelenbak’ in Dutch. The concert was sold out and it was hot so high up in the building. We were quite far away from the…
-
Bicycle Ride in Denekamp: A Disappointing Café Experience
We had another bicycle ride around De Lutte in July towards Denekamp this time. In Denekamp we were recommended by the local tourist information office to have lunch in Melkbeernke. This café serves local specialties but it turned out to be a disappointment. Their menu was a Dutch variation of tapas but the tomato soup was liquid Heinz ketchup with added sugar. The bitterballen are a traditional Dutch snack but the ones served in Melkbeernke were of low quality and too salty. The tacos were acceptable and the spare ribs were actually good. They did have the nice Grolsch Weizen…
-
Count Binface Takes On Farage in Clacton’s Unique Election Race
Nigel Farage is apparently running for re election in Clacton as part of a scheme to have the voters exhonorate him for financial scandals that are surrounding him. He accepted money from a convicted bitcoin criminal and used part of the money to purchase a house of 1.4 million pounds. The other traditional parties declined to play his game but the satirical candidate Count Binface picked up the glove. One of his election promises is to build at least one affordable house. Who can still claim politics isn’t fun 😂?
-
Must-Visit Ferdinands: Lunch in Bad Bentheim
Recently we took our bikes for a ride to Bad Bentheim in Germany. The plan was to visit the Burg Bentheim but this turned out to be closed because part of the building was close to collapsing and need restauration first. Had we Googled the Burg we would have known. But then we would likely not have had an excellent lunch experience. When we arrived in Bad Bentheim we were looking for a place to eat and ended up having lunch in Ferdinands. This is located next to the Burg and we could sit outside and enjoy the view over…
-
‘t Pläske in Ootmarsum
We went to Ootmarsum to visit a few of the local art galleries. Unfortunately it was a Monday and most galleries were closed. This was a pity as we saw quite some beautiful art behind windows of closed galleries. After discovering the village walking around we had lunch at ‘t Pläske. Food was simple but good. I had a Session IPA from Brouwerij ‘t Ij which tasted nice. After lunch we visited the museum of education. This is a nice little museum that is partially dedicated to the history of education and Annie M.G. Schmidt, famous Dutch author of children…
-
Infantino and FIFA: A Crisis of Credibility
FIFA boss Infantino always tries to justify his own injustice by claiming that football unites. I am kind of curious how he will try to turn the latest debacle of his own making into a uniting story. A few days ago the American star player Balogun was sent off with a red card and according to the FIFA rules repeatedly states during the World Cup, a player that gets a red card is automatically banned from playing in the next game. It took Infantino a few days to find a way out but he managed to motivate the decision to…
-
Proeflokaal de Smokkelaar in Oldenzaal
Recently visited Proeflokaal de Smokkelaar in Oldenzaal in The Netherlands. We were walking through the village and looking for a place for a drink and a toilet and more or less stumbled on to their terrace by accident. They brew their own beers and also promote beers from local breweries. I tried out their Aloha IPA which they had on tap and which was very nice. We only stayed for 1 drink but they have a lot of choice and serve bites as well so you could go and taste a few of their offerings during a lengthy discussion. The…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Response 418 