• Enjoy Local Produce at ‘t Gruttershuys in Doesburg

    When we visited Doesburg along the way from De Lutte to Leiden we were looking for a place to have lunch. Google directed us to ‘t Gruttershuys. It is located in a ‘shopping street’ and because it was warm we decided to sit outside. We were more or less sitting in front of the shop on the street at small tables. The place doesn’t have an attractive terrace to sit on but they specialize in local produce and it is a combination of shop and restaurant. Staff was friendly and most important, the food was very good. I had the…

    Enjoy Local Produce at ‘t Gruttershuys in Doesburg
  • Creating a Simple Python Quiz App Using OOP Concepts

    As mentioned in other posts I started following the 100 Days of Code Python Bootcamp course on Udemy to see if the beginner section was interesting for my teenager son to follow. The beginner level ended on day 14 of the course and covered all the basics of programming. Day 15 was a recap project to apply everything learned so far and days 16 and 17 gave an introduction to object oriented programming and using and defining classes in Python. This is quite a big switch in programatic thinking to go from functional programming to object oriented programming. On day…

  • Discover the Beauty of Arboretum Poort Bulten

    While staying at Hotel Wilmberberg in De Lutte we explored the surrounding villages such as Oldenzaal, Ootmarsum, Denekamp and Bad Bentheim. On our bike ride to Denekamp we passed by estate Singraven and the watermill/restaurant nearby where we stopped for a coffee. In the nature surrounding Denekamp there were many freshly mowed fields which attracted many storks looking for frogs and mice that didn’t survive the mowing. On the way back from one of our bicycle trips we stopped at Arboretum Poort Bulten, maintained by natuurmonumenten. The arboretum contains over 2500 trees spread over 1000 different species. It is quite…

    Discover the Beauty of Arboretum Poort Bulten
  • 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.…

    Unwind at Hotel Wilmersberg: Nature, Comfort, and Culinary Delights
  • 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…

    Bicycle Ride in Denekamp: A Disappointing Café Experience
  • 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…