Spent a weekend at my friend A’s recently, and as we all craved an autumnal walk, out we went for a 2hr walk in Thorndon Country Park in Essex, a county to the east of London. What a privilege to be able to be in nature, taking in the beautiful colours of autumn, with the bestest of friends. It doesn’t take much to make me happy - and bringing hot tea in a flask is just icing on the cake.
It’s only recently that I’ve realised how small the Netherlands is, and how the distances between the larger cities is just a relatively short train ride away. With that in mind I did some research pre-trip and knew that Haarlem was a must see. And yes, the architecture is the same as in Amsterdam, but the buildings are generally not as tall.
Some of them still have lots of interesting details on them though.
And sometimes the people who live there add their own, revealing something about themselves.
Our first port of call was the Teylers Museum, which also happens to be the oldest museum in the whole country, created in 1784. It was truly an amazing place, so it will get its own post because it’s crazy brilliant.
Afterwards we had lunch at DeDakkas, a great restaurant on top of a car park. Definitely going back there one day.
It felt weird to have been somewhere so nice, and to then walk down the stairs in a six story car park. But even a stairwell in such a place can give you a nice picture.
We then walked through the Gouden Straatjes (The Golden Streets) to have a look at the shops, but they were all shut as it was Sunday, as well as Whitsun. Double whammy.
Same deal for Grote Kerk. A visit for another time I guess.
I love Dutch architecture so much, which probably explains why my favourite building material is brick.
It helps that the clay they used is a really nice colour too.
We walked nearly 17000 steps that day, but we took little breaks every now and again. Here we sat by the canal watching the boats - and sometimes dogs - go by.
Nice painted tiles in a doorway.
Most of the streets in centre of town are car free, which always feels like such a treat when you live in a city like London. We have the priorities all wrong here - the car is king. Most of these houses are residential, and some don’t have a back garden, so you’ll find tables and chairs set up outside someone’s front door, and the residents hanging out there. Me and Z were a bit behind A & D at this point, and when we caught up with them they were chatting away to some people who were doing exactly that, and as we approached one of them greeted me by my name and poured me a little glass of wine. Turns out that D had said “Is this a bar?” as they walked by, and overhearing her the guy went “It’s the best bar in Haarlem!”, when it actually was his house. They were having people round for a late lunch, and we stopped for a little bit, chatting away. Gezellig!
A’s Hockney bag kind of felt applicable in that moment.
I really wanted to check out Proveniers hofje, a large set of houses set around an inner courtyard. Usually hofjes are almshouses, but these in particular were for built for gentlemen (!) who paid for their lodgings in the 1700’s, so the houses are bigger than usual.
We all agreed that it’s a really good way of living, as long as you get on with your neighbours of course. Would definitely help with the loneliness epidemic we have in parts of the world.
We didn’t want to hang around for too long, as we were actually a bit late for the official open-to-the-public times, so we quietly made our way out and continued our perambulation in the neighbourhood.
Peeps, it was magical. So magical that I only took one picture, which is always a sign of me properly taking something in. Street after street looked more or less like this. In amongst the houses were sweet looking bars and restaurants, full of what looked like locals. The place was not mentioned in any guides or in any research that I’d done, we just happened upon it. I always enjoy walking through residential neighbourhoods more than any sightseeing, as it’s so much more interesting.
You still come across sights worth seeing.
On our way back to the train station we had to walk through the city centre again, and we oooooh’d and aaaaaaah’d over this Art Deco beaut
and click click clicked.
Nice old liquor and wine shop doors, don’t you think?
The last canal we crossed before the train station. Perfect light (ha! when I typed this I typed ‘life’ instead of light. Freudian slip anyone?)
I can’t tell you how nice this outing was, as Amsterdam itself is insanely busy. They get 20 million tourists visiting a year now, which is the same as London, but London is eight times bigger than Amsterdam - eek. You really notice the difference from only five years ago. On a bike it’s not too bad, but on foot it’s intense in places. So I’m definitely up for exploring the rest of the country more on future trips. Trains between Amsterdam and Haarlem only take 15 mins, departing every five minutes. Ridiculous! And the beach from Haarlem is just 10 minutes west. In fact, on the train back most people were coming back from the beach, and there was sand on the train seats. Do Dutch people know how good they’ve got it? I think so. But thinking about it, maybe Haarlem wasn’t that great. In fact, it was the pits. You definitely don’t want to go there 😉
The Harlem Shuffle 💃🏽🕺🏽
10 days ago, very early in the morning, this is what I saw as I was eating my Pret breakfast. Seeing hen parties as you sit and wait to board an 8am train is a bit nerve wracking, as all you want is a quiet carriage and a pleasant journey. Fortunately the two groups we saw were getting on the Paris train, and not ours to Amsterdam.
It was time for a repeat trip to my home from home with D & A, a year later. A had the foresight to bring playing cards and we warmed up with this game, where you didn’t want to end up with the queen of hearts. Such a fun and simple one, with lots of tension. And yes, D picked it up here.
The four hour journey goes really quickly when you play cards. We realised that we might be the last generation who play regular card games, as I can’t imagine today’s kids being that interested, when you have games like Exploding Kittens etc. I have to teach Oomoo this though, which I hadn’t played in 20 years. Shithead is such a brilliant game, the perfect mix of strategy and luck, and the fact that your hand can change very quickly, from good to bad and back again makes it really fun.
Arriving in Amsterdam is really easy now that my friend Z lives in Noord. Once we arrive at Central Station it’s a five minute tube ride, and boom there we are.
Just like last year we headed straight to Liever Hier for lunch, and this time we got a great table, so great that we stayed there for a couple of hours, eating incredibly well and catching up.
The table was hidden amongst the tall grass (much taller than last year)
and Z picked some to take home
as well as some cow parsley.
I asked Z to take a seat here as I wanted a picture of the café (to the left of yellow tree) and just as I took the picture this woman and her dog walked past and made it complete. Smiles all around.
We then heard the unmistakeable sound of a Solex tour.
Look how happy they are! Such a good idea.
Here’s a clip I filmed last summer when we got overtaken on our pushbikes by a tour. If you cycle north for 10 minutes from Z’s front door you arrive in the countryside. Didn’t manage it this time round, but there’s always the next trip.
After our long meal we needed to stretch our legs so we walked around this little inlet and admired the light catching on the lily pads.
A did some tree bonding too.
We then spent the evening on Z’s balcony and felt very pleased by the fact that we hadn’t even ventured into the city centre. I realised on the last trip to Amsterdam last August that I can’t keep up my usual tempo on city breaks anymore, and that maybe less is more after all.
So here’s to more balcony hangs in the future 🧡
Time for an interlude amongst my Amsterdam posts me thinks. A couple of weeks ago me and my friend D went to stay with our friend A at her house in Essex for the weekend. We (mostly) lucked out with the weather, and had such a great time. I reckon middle aged sleepovers should be more of a thing, haha! We arrived on Friday evening, and early on Saturday morning we went for breakfast at the local farm café, and got supplies (i.e. cakes and dinner ingredients) from the farm shop next door.
A then drove us to Leigh-on Sea, and pretty it was too.
We made our way down towards the beach, and as we were doing so, three ladies half our age decided to run down this stretch which made us feel old, as when you get to a certain age you worry about twisting your ankle, falling over and then having a painful limp for a good few months afterwards. When you’re in your 20’s you don’t have to worry about that sort of thing, because you tend to be able to run and stay upright.
Down by the beach the tide was completely out, but we could still smell the sea.
We walked eastwards towards Westcliff-on-Sea, and I realise now how different the walk would’ve been had the tide been in, but it was still enjoyable. To the left, behind the fence were railway tracks
and on the other side of those these houses caught my eye, and this spacey one the most.
The cute view from the bench we rested our middle aged legs on.
This view made me think of Leon Spilliaerts’ sea side paintings.
Lunch was a bag of chips, and A recommended that we put more salt on than we normally would, and make sure we got some on the bottom of the bag. D mentioned hers being too salty, and seeing how much she poured in, in this picture, I AM NOT SURPRISED.
After lunch we ducked into the Leigh Heritage Centre where we had a nosey in the replicated fisherman’s cottage from 1850. I wonder if people in the future will fawn over our household items like we did here, or will most of it have disintegrated as they’re mainly mass-produced crap made of plastic, with planned obsolescence?
Back on the street we heard these guys way before we saw them, wondering “Is that people singing or someone playing it really loud?”, before we saw where the singing came from. Turns out it was these guys, singing sea shanties, while swigging ale. How very very English.
Driving back to A’s I thoroughly enjoyed being the passenger.
Joey was waiting for us when we got back, A’s sweet old fella. As a gentleman aged 14 he’s not up for long walks or days out anymore. A said I wouldn’t manage to get a shot of him as he always turns his head just as your about to, but he’s obviously never met anyone with a trigger finger like mine.
Time for the cakes we bought in the morning. And yes, I will never become a food stylist, unless you find this look appetising and if so - I’m your gal.
At one point A got out this giant jar of matches that her parents had collected from their travels decades ago.
We decided that we would all pull a random box out, and that we would have to travel to those places one day. Mine came from a hotel in Bandung, Indonesia, D got one from Hawaii, and I think A’s was also from Indonesia. Does already having been to Bali count as having gone? I don’t know about you, but I feel funny about flying long haul in the future. I reckon I’ll only allow myself about two more in my life time. It just doesn’t feel right.
In the mean time I appreciated how much “my” box matched my and D’s jumpers.
Ever wondered what would a matchbox from a Playboy Club in the 70’s looks like?
Well, ahem, a bit like this.
D, crashing from the cakes and the day out. Time to watch some telly.
We started watching Couples Therapy, and binged through six episodes in one sitting. We kept cursing at Mau, the husband in this couple. The show films couples as they have therapy in real life, and why you would want to air your problems is beyond me, but of course it makes for compelling telly, just like Esther Perel’s podcast “Where should we begin?” has been a fascinating listen for the past few years.
Halfway through our marathon CT session A made some fresh pesto and bloody delicious it was too. It even qualified for a picture which, if you have been reading the blog for the past decade and a bit, realise is quite something. I can’t say that I still see people take pictures of their food with the same dedication as they did pre-Covid, but I did watch a girl posing for a selfie in her car for a few minutes outside my window yesterday, taking a pic, checking it, rearranging her hair/pout and re-taking the picture on a loop. I was hoping that we’d moved on from that, considering where we are in the world right now, but hey, if it makes you happy, keep doing it (but does it though, DOES IT?!!). I'm not judging (but I am, I AM).
Hey Joey! Caught you again - hehe. Sunday morning, and time for coffee
and breakfast. Mmmm, white toast. What a treat.
We had planned to go out for a walk before it was time for me and D to head back home, but the weather took a turn, so we played Sussed which I’d brought with me instead, which was, as always, really good fun. Have you ever played it? The premise is this; you read out a question with three possible answers, and the other players have to guess which one you’d answer. Like “Do I think strangers should chat more to each other on public transport? A. Yes, a lot more/ B. Yes, in some cases/ C. No, it should stay as it is now. As it happened we three knew each other really well, and scored accordingly, but the best thing about the game are the conversations you end up having. I’ve played it with kids who are usually quiet in adult company, and seen them actively take part in the conversation, and the arguing that can ensue when you disagree with what someone says about themselves is very entertaining. A nice way to round of a perfect weekend! If you haven’t done a grown up sleepover in a while and you can, put one in the diary sooner than soon (and kid-free is obviously better). We were all buzzing from having been able to spend so much unhurried time together, and it showed that you really don’t have to go somewhere far for some quality time with your best people, you just need longer than a brunch/lunch/dinner/day.