7.8 KiB
title, date
| title | date |
|---|---|
| Week 7, Friday: the Thirteenth | 2024-09-13T20:55:00+02:00 |
{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-05.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
This morning we got up at 09:00 after a great night's sleep. I boot up the morning program and make some coffee for myself and Marina. Mom and Dad already made some coffee and are hanging out on the couch booting their respective morning program as well. At around 10:00 Dad makes a few soft boiled eggs and bread. After the breakfast, Marina and I go to Albert Heijn for just one more time, to get a few supplies for our further Roadtrip to Jubbega. We buy what we need, and then we also buy about four times more than what we need, and we call it done. We mosy back down to my parents' place and have a quick lunch at 13:30 - Marina wanted to nibble on a few Worstenbroodjes so, of course, we got this food.
The trip to Friesland from here is just under 200km (125mi), and we can do it without charging the car. Driving on the Dutch Autobahn is mind numbingly boring, as the maximum speed is 100km/h (60mph), and it's all just flat and straight highway roads from Eindhoven all the way up there. We pass Nijmegen, Arnhem, Zwolle, Meppel and then into the waterlilly county. The Frysian flag consists of blue and white stripes and seven red Pompeblêden (Dutch: water lilly leaves), symbolizing the seven counties of the province. Underway we even manage to snap a picture of the "Wolkom in Fryslân", although it's not a very good roadsign!
We make one stop only, in Wolvega which has a fancy v4 supercharger at a local Van Der Valk hotel. I rock up to the stall, and across from me there's a car with Sankt Gallen plates - booyah all the way up here I would not have expected to see a swiss car! It's a nice hotel, and we take a walk around it to find that it's near a small nature reserve with a little lake with swans and a beach (Full of swan poop, SMH!) but the sun is shining and we take a walk around the lake, and along the neighborhood here in Wolvega, after which we go into the hotel and drink a tea. The tea selection here is nice! We get a little scoop and a selection of six infusions and teas.
The nice thing about taking a little walk and drinking a little tea is that the battery is fully charged at 420km (260mi) or so autonomy, which will allow us to do our short trip to Franker tomorrow, as well as get us most of the way back down south to Brussels on Sunday. With the charging out of the way, we make the last 15 minute drive from Wolvega to the Jubbega metropole, and very quickly find [De Koppenjan], which is a camping and pancake house. I walk in and announce myself as Pim, and I'm immediately greeted as "Oh, Arend's buddy from Switzerland".
We are taken to our glamping vehicle for the night, there are three refurbished old waggons here, one blue, green and one red. We are staying in the green one, it's called a Pipowagen, and has a double bed, kitchenette, couch and so on. Perfect for the night! In the 'front yard', there are a few picnic tables, and we're missing just one main ingredient of success: apero-material. Off we go, to the local Plus grocery shop and we emerge with a bottle of tawny port from Offley, some cheese, olives, and sliced sausage. Perfect!
Marina sits outside with me and we both enjoy the tranquility, the serenity of this camping site, and the apéro. We have a dinner reservation at 19:00 but for about 45min, we make the best of our wait - for me, I write my journal for yesterday, and for her, she draws a sketch of the bowling pins in Eindhoven for her summer sketchbook. When 19:00 rolls around, we make our way to the Koppenjan resaurant, and inside my eye is immediately met by Arend! He's sitting at one of the tables with friends (or family maybe?) Certainly Esther is there and we say our hello's. It's been since 2021 since I last saw Esther, and a little bit less long ago that I had dinner with Arend and the Coloclue folks.
Arend is going to help Esther and co with a pubquiz tonight at 20:00. They are wrapping up their dinner with some coupes Dame Blanche, and then they leave to the bar next door, as we are enjoying our pancakes. Marina has a classic Koppenjan with ham, cheese, onions and bellpepper; while I have a more esoteric Ajam which is with chicken sate and a salad. It's really good food!
After dinner, we make our way into the completely packed bar next door. The Pubquiz is just about to start, but it's a bit competitive it seems, as all the tables and groups are all ready to go and there's no "adhoc" signups. That's OK, we'll just play along from the side lines and see if we can guess the right answers. The theme is "Back to School", likely because the schoolyear is just starting. In total there are nine rounds with eight questions each. We play the first six rounds and don't feel terrible about our performance, but we did not get the questions about Frysian grammar quite right. As usual, we laugh at each others' brain farts, and during one of the breaks Arend comes to say hi. They are also doing well with their group - and we root for them as we take off to our little Pipowagen.
At our room for the night, I write the journal entry for today while enjoying a few Trappiste beers from Rochefort, my all time favorite. Marina finishes her bowling-pin drawing, and as I reach over to the swiss army knife to open the bottle, she reminds me: you have like eighty bottle openers with you! And thus:
{{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_1268_23.27.19.mp4" >}}
Skol, or shall I say: Tsjoch!
Pictures of the Day
{{< gallery-category >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1238.JPG" caption="In the morning, Marins thinks its a good idea to try on my sunglasses. She looks like a state trooper cop, just as much as I do." >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1239.JPG" caption="For lunch, we have a frikandellenbroodje from Bakker Bart. I did not like it as much, but I did not hear complaints from Marina!" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1241.JPG" caption="Here's our route from Best, NL to Jubbega, FRL" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1242.JPG" caption="The 'Wolkom in Fryslân' sign when entering Friesland" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1243.JPG" caption="The meadow around the Van Der Valk in Wolvega is super nice today" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1244.JPG" caption="We take a walk around the pond at the hotel in Wolvega" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1248.JPG" caption="The tea selection at Van Der Valk is tasty! And well prepared/served." >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1251.JPG" caption="An overview picture of the three Pipowagens, we're in the green one in the middle." >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1252.JPG" caption="The inside of our green and cozy Pipowagen in Jubbega, Friesland" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1256.JPG" caption="Our aperitif today is a selection of olives, meats and cheese; paired perfectly with a good glass of tawny port." >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1258.JPG" caption="A half-selfie of us enjoying the last sunrays of the day and our port and charcuterie" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1260.JPG" caption="The Pannenkoekenhuis at De Koppenjan has all sorts of sweet and savory pancakes." >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1262.JPG" caption="After dinner, the PubQuiz is the place to be - it's very competitive and the questions are in the theme 'Back to School'" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1264.JPG" caption="A question in the PubQuiz: Which canal connects Amsterdam with the North Sea. NO SPOILERS!" >}} {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1265.JPG" caption="My treat for the evening - a Rochefort 10, trappiste beer" >}} {{< /gallery-category >}}
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