It's autumn. There's a strong wind blowing over Scheveningen and every once in a while rain falls down. It's 10:00 o'clock on a Monday morning and I'm riding my bicycle, struggling against the gusts of wind that come from the direction of the sea. Rihanna Gaga sits in her children's seat in front of me and seems to enjoy the wind blowing through her hair.
We pass the statues in front of the Beelden aan Zee museum - a museum devoted to statues - that oversee the boulevard of Scheveningen: a strange and exciting group of simple figures of different sizes that represent a series of fairytales. There, I park my bike and we walk down to the Blue Lagoon.
Blue Lagoon is one of the more posh beach clubs around here. It has a pleasant design, with furniture and decorations in dark brown and white, with lots of wood and organic material. The terrace has several large Buddha statues and palm trees. Inside, the most remarkable aspect of the interior are two huge diagonally crossing beams that support the roof and give the feel of an old building, rather than a temporal beach club. The walls are decorated with a specific type of kitsch Western Buddha paintings - broad paint brush strokes and lots of gold - and there's a large number of beautiful mosaic lamps hanging from the ceiling.
We're the only guests and sit down on a big couch in the corner behind windows looking out on the beach and the sea. Large waves crash on the sand, while the wind blows through the Blue Lagoon's palm trees. Boyzone's version of "It's Only Words" is playing and during the rest of the stay, a series of smooth pop ballads can be heard - a perfect mix of songs for an autumn day like today.
The Blue Lagoon has a set breakfast called Breakfast at Sea (€9,90), which I order. It's pleasantly arranged in three layers of platters, containing various bread rolls, cheese, different slices of meat, sweets, a bit of salad and an omelette. It's not as huge as last friday's breakfast at Spice, but it is still pretty good value for money. One wonders, though, why a breakfast called "Breakfast at Sea" comes without fish. Rihanna Gaga is as adventurous with the food as last Friday, sampling bits of meat, cheese and egg together with her usual choice of bread, tomato and cucumber.
Recently, she's more cautious in where she goes. Only a little while ago she'd be at the other end of the beach club the moment I put her down on the floor, but now she stays closer, circling the table and only walking around a bit. She's also become more shy towards people she doesn't know recently. She'll often try to cling on to me or her mother when a stranger talks to her or gives her attention - she still enjoys it, but it's a bit more scary now as well. And when a friendly, big brown dog comes towards us, she immediately clasps my legs and tries to hide behind them. When I take her on my lap, her hesitation is gone, though, and she greets the dog like she greets any other animal: with a cheerful "hi!"
The dog belongs to one of the staff, who is busy taking down the large television screens adorning the walls of Blue Lagoon. I don't know why this is - maybe the screens are not a permanent part of the beach club - but it gives the place a decidedly end-of-season feeling: as if they've already begun to take down the place. Outside, a drizzle has started to pour down.
Rihanna Gaga has somewhat lost her caution and is now roaming through the beach club. She's fascinated by a arcade-like machine with flickering buttons that turns out to be a "selfie machine": it will take your picture and print it out immediately. When I take her back to the couch, she climbs it and lays down - this is also new: she's much more able to relax now than she was before. She used to be on full blast whenever she was awake, but now she can sit and stare, or simply chill out a bit for a while. But never too long: soon she's on her feet again and hopping around on the large couch. Twice I have to save her from falling of, but to her that is all but part of a game. She's having a great time, laughing and teasing me. We washed her this morning and then she hart a short sleep, so she now has a 'coupe mad scientist': wooshy hair that goes everywhere. It's actually a great look on her, very funny and cheerful.
I have another cappucino and then it's time to leave. Luckily, the rain has stopped and we walk back to the group of statues, which Rihanna Gaga explores at length, fascinated by the small, bigger and huge statues of strange people and animals.
We pass the statues in front of the Beelden aan Zee museum - a museum devoted to statues - that oversee the boulevard of Scheveningen: a strange and exciting group of simple figures of different sizes that represent a series of fairytales. There, I park my bike and we walk down to the Blue Lagoon.
Blue Lagoon is one of the more posh beach clubs around here. It has a pleasant design, with furniture and decorations in dark brown and white, with lots of wood and organic material. The terrace has several large Buddha statues and palm trees. Inside, the most remarkable aspect of the interior are two huge diagonally crossing beams that support the roof and give the feel of an old building, rather than a temporal beach club. The walls are decorated with a specific type of kitsch Western Buddha paintings - broad paint brush strokes and lots of gold - and there's a large number of beautiful mosaic lamps hanging from the ceiling.
We're the only guests and sit down on a big couch in the corner behind windows looking out on the beach and the sea. Large waves crash on the sand, while the wind blows through the Blue Lagoon's palm trees. Boyzone's version of "It's Only Words" is playing and during the rest of the stay, a series of smooth pop ballads can be heard - a perfect mix of songs for an autumn day like today.
The Blue Lagoon has a set breakfast called Breakfast at Sea (€9,90), which I order. It's pleasantly arranged in three layers of platters, containing various bread rolls, cheese, different slices of meat, sweets, a bit of salad and an omelette. It's not as huge as last friday's breakfast at Spice, but it is still pretty good value for money. One wonders, though, why a breakfast called "Breakfast at Sea" comes without fish. Rihanna Gaga is as adventurous with the food as last Friday, sampling bits of meat, cheese and egg together with her usual choice of bread, tomato and cucumber.
Recently, she's more cautious in where she goes. Only a little while ago she'd be at the other end of the beach club the moment I put her down on the floor, but now she stays closer, circling the table and only walking around a bit. She's also become more shy towards people she doesn't know recently. She'll often try to cling on to me or her mother when a stranger talks to her or gives her attention - she still enjoys it, but it's a bit more scary now as well. And when a friendly, big brown dog comes towards us, she immediately clasps my legs and tries to hide behind them. When I take her on my lap, her hesitation is gone, though, and she greets the dog like she greets any other animal: with a cheerful "hi!"
The dog belongs to one of the staff, who is busy taking down the large television screens adorning the walls of Blue Lagoon. I don't know why this is - maybe the screens are not a permanent part of the beach club - but it gives the place a decidedly end-of-season feeling: as if they've already begun to take down the place. Outside, a drizzle has started to pour down.
Rihanna Gaga has somewhat lost her caution and is now roaming through the beach club. She's fascinated by a arcade-like machine with flickering buttons that turns out to be a "selfie machine": it will take your picture and print it out immediately. When I take her back to the couch, she climbs it and lays down - this is also new: she's much more able to relax now than she was before. She used to be on full blast whenever she was awake, but now she can sit and stare, or simply chill out a bit for a while. But never too long: soon she's on her feet again and hopping around on the large couch. Twice I have to save her from falling of, but to her that is all but part of a game. She's having a great time, laughing and teasing me. We washed her this morning and then she hart a short sleep, so she now has a 'coupe mad scientist': wooshy hair that goes everywhere. It's actually a great look on her, very funny and cheerful.
I have another cappucino and then it's time to leave. Luckily, the rain has stopped and we walk back to the group of statues, which Rihanna Gaga explores at length, fascinated by the small, bigger and huge statues of strange people and animals.
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