We had enjoyed yesterday’s breakfast so much we decided to go again. The wonderful Bakkerij Van Hecke was, and I am sure still is, the perfect breakfast spot for sure. My total inability to converse with the lady behind the counter, and the wonderful trip that we had been on, meant that I downloaded Duolingo in that café and I started to learn Dutch that day.
The ferry was due to leave mid-afternoon and we had a morning to kill and an hour or more drive ahead. We decided to take a trip to Edam, the home of the wax covered bland cheese. It is a quiet little village with a waterway running up the main street, flanked by pristine little bungalows with low windows. Not that I was looking, but they were little windows into stylish and smart homes and I would love to live there one day.
Weirdly, most of the shops seemed to be closed on the day but the Edam cheese shop was open for business. The third generation owner of the business was there in the shop giving advice on what we should be buying and, somehow, we ended up with two bags of cheese and various pots of honey mustard and biscuits. I didn’t go in there intending to spend a hundred quid on this stuff, but we did without question and you have to admire a cheese salesman in his pomp.
We headed back to the ferry terminal and to our cabins but, this time, we were a little wiser. We quickly left the berths and headed up to the outdoor bar on the back of the boat where there was a singer with a guitar putting on a turn. We sat there with drinks and snacks, listening to Oasis covers and playing Uno. A perfect way to round off a brilliant holiday.
Footnote :
It has taken the best part of a year to gather these thoughts and pull them into a semi sensible format. In that time, I must have driven down the coast at Whitley Bay a few hundred times. Every time I do and I see that DFDS ferry slowly cutting tis way through the surf, I think about this holiday. I am 250 days into my DuoLingo streak and I hope to return to Belgium and Holland better prepared next time.
Itchy Feet and Titchy Feet 