For the first time in three weeks, we're having breakfast at the beach. The intensive course I was taking turned out to be so time consuming that it was impossible for me to update this blog. In fact, I barely had time to spend with Rihanna Gaga, which made the last month extremely hard for me.
But now the course is over and Rihanna Gaga, her mother and me walk to Solbeach, which - coming from our side of Scheveningen - is the first of the main stretch of beach clubs at the boulevard. Sol is one of several latin themed beach clubs around here. It is also one of the larger beach clubs, with a main building, large terraces, a second building with a dancefloor, two bars and a playground.
The club's logo is exactly the same as the logo of the famous beer brand and I have often wondered if they have franchised the use of it or that Sol beer never bothered to do anything about this copyright infringement because, after all, it is a form of free publicity. The weather is autumnal and when we arrive, we are the only customers. There is, however, a nice and cosy atmosphere in the club: the staff and some of their family members are having breakfast and are chatting cheerfully among themselves.
The music is a nice mix of pop songs and laidback, loungy tunes with lots of piano. Rihanna Gaga approves of it and spends much of her time standing on the couch and moving to the music. Solbeach has several set breakfasts and we order the power breakfast (€9,50, a large bowl of thick yoghurt with fruit and nuts, with coffee and fresh orange juice) and the Sol breakfast (€14,50, a croissant, chocolate bread roll, slice of bread, scrambled eggs, salmon, butter, tea and fresh orange juice) to share among us.
Rihanna Gaga takes me for a stroll. One of the things that have made the last four weeks so difficult, is that she's made quite a jump in her development. She's made her first steps on her own - still shakily and never more than a few at once, but still very exciting - and her baby babbling is starting more and more to sound like real speech. She didn't like it that I wasn't available to her because I had to study and she's been grumpy because of this. It is great to be able to relax and just spend time with my daughter again. She leads me through the beach club, on to its terrace, crosses the dancefloor and past an elderly couple who cheerfully wave back at Rihanna Gaga. When she sees the playground she wants to go there, but it is closed today so I pick her up and we walk back.
Breakfast arrives quickly and although it isn't large, the quality of the ingredients makes it good value for money: the ingredients are fresh and both the power breakfast and Sol breakfast are very tasty. Rihanna Gaga eats along with us - she eats almost everything now and has strange preferences like licking the pepper grinder - picking bits of fruit and pieces of bread from our plates. At a certain moment the cook appears, to give her more raspberries. It's good for her, he explains, and his own daughter, who is of the same age as Rihanna Gaga, loves them. Embarassingly, Rihanna Gaga does not like them at all, so we sneakily eat them ourselves. The gesture is, however, lovely and illustrative for the great atmosphere at Sol: cozy, welcoming and pleasant.
When we want to leave, the rain starts to pour down heavily so we wait for a while. I walk around with Rihanna Gaga on my shoulders, which she enjoys hugely. One of the staff members tells me how much she enjoys watching Rihanna Gaga: she finds he to be really alert and engaged. This is true: she always has been a baby who was very involved with what went on around here, from her birth onwards. I remember how, when she had just been born, the nurses in the hospital told me that they had never seen a baby that was so alert right after birth, grasping things with her eyes, gazing intently at what was going on around her. She has always been a strong presence and she will probably continue to be one, judging from the fierce character she's developing (or, rather, revealing...).
When the rain has stopped, we say goodbye and walk back home. It feels good to be back!
But now the course is over and Rihanna Gaga, her mother and me walk to Solbeach, which - coming from our side of Scheveningen - is the first of the main stretch of beach clubs at the boulevard. Sol is one of several latin themed beach clubs around here. It is also one of the larger beach clubs, with a main building, large terraces, a second building with a dancefloor, two bars and a playground.
The club's logo is exactly the same as the logo of the famous beer brand and I have often wondered if they have franchised the use of it or that Sol beer never bothered to do anything about this copyright infringement because, after all, it is a form of free publicity. The weather is autumnal and when we arrive, we are the only customers. There is, however, a nice and cosy atmosphere in the club: the staff and some of their family members are having breakfast and are chatting cheerfully among themselves.
The music is a nice mix of pop songs and laidback, loungy tunes with lots of piano. Rihanna Gaga approves of it and spends much of her time standing on the couch and moving to the music. Solbeach has several set breakfasts and we order the power breakfast (€9,50, a large bowl of thick yoghurt with fruit and nuts, with coffee and fresh orange juice) and the Sol breakfast (€14,50, a croissant, chocolate bread roll, slice of bread, scrambled eggs, salmon, butter, tea and fresh orange juice) to share among us.
Rihanna Gaga takes me for a stroll. One of the things that have made the last four weeks so difficult, is that she's made quite a jump in her development. She's made her first steps on her own - still shakily and never more than a few at once, but still very exciting - and her baby babbling is starting more and more to sound like real speech. She didn't like it that I wasn't available to her because I had to study and she's been grumpy because of this. It is great to be able to relax and just spend time with my daughter again. She leads me through the beach club, on to its terrace, crosses the dancefloor and past an elderly couple who cheerfully wave back at Rihanna Gaga. When she sees the playground she wants to go there, but it is closed today so I pick her up and we walk back.Breakfast arrives quickly and although it isn't large, the quality of the ingredients makes it good value for money: the ingredients are fresh and both the power breakfast and Sol breakfast are very tasty. Rihanna Gaga eats along with us - she eats almost everything now and has strange preferences like licking the pepper grinder - picking bits of fruit and pieces of bread from our plates. At a certain moment the cook appears, to give her more raspberries. It's good for her, he explains, and his own daughter, who is of the same age as Rihanna Gaga, loves them. Embarassingly, Rihanna Gaga does not like them at all, so we sneakily eat them ourselves. The gesture is, however, lovely and illustrative for the great atmosphere at Sol: cozy, welcoming and pleasant.
When we want to leave, the rain starts to pour down heavily so we wait for a while. I walk around with Rihanna Gaga on my shoulders, which she enjoys hugely. One of the staff members tells me how much she enjoys watching Rihanna Gaga: she finds he to be really alert and engaged. This is true: she always has been a baby who was very involved with what went on around here, from her birth onwards. I remember how, when she had just been born, the nurses in the hospital told me that they had never seen a baby that was so alert right after birth, grasping things with her eyes, gazing intently at what was going on around her. She has always been a strong presence and she will probably continue to be one, judging from the fierce character she's developing (or, rather, revealing...).
When the rain has stopped, we say goodbye and walk back home. It feels good to be back!
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