vrijdag 19 september 2014

Spice Beach Club

Quite a promise. Spice Beach Club not only announces it serves 'the best breakfast at sea', it also announces a second 'surprise' breakfast that is 'even better than the best'. Since we have been having breakfast at the beach for nearly five months by now, we accept the challenge.

It takes a while before the waitress arrives. Surprisingly, she asks if I want to drink something with my breakfast - surely 'the better than the best breakfast at sea' includes a drink? Apparently it doesn't, so I order fresh mint tea. I do so reluctantly, as Spice is notorious for its high prices for drinks - once, when my girlfriend remarked that around five euros is a bit much for an iced coffee, she was told by the Spice staff that this is a normal price at the sea and she should take the location into consideration. However, the same coffee costs only 3,50 at Peukie, arguably the most favourably located beach clubs of all.

Spice is nicely decorated. The entire interior and terrace is designed in white, grey and turquoise, with nice touches such as large chunks of blue glass and white birch wood. There is no Buddha statue here. Instead, Spice has opted for two large easter island heads at the entrance (together, quite inexplicable, with a large picture of an airport called "Flamingo Airport"). The whole morning, there's old disco, funk and even some chicago house tunes playing.

The weather is cloudy and misty - it's impossible to see the horizon. At the same time, it's warm, at times even a bit suffocating, but the atmosphere at Spice's terrace is pleasant. There's a few other people enjoying breakfast as well and some small birds come very close and keep Rihanna Gaga entertained. I like this kind of music and so does Rihanna Gaga, although she isn't in a dancing mood today.

Rihanna Gaga is constantly smiling and laughing, babbling away and walking around. The breakfast takes a while, but when it is brought, it looks impressive. White beans in tomato sauce with bacon, a large array of bread slices and buns, a large selection of meat slices, a bit of cheese, shepherd's pie, a selection of sweet spreads, omelette and a bit of salad. Rihanna Gaga is untypically enthusiastic about the food. Normally she will only eat some bread and tomatoes and cucumber if available, but now she asks for pieces of the omelette, picks the salad from my plate, runs off with a slice of saucage, steals my croissant and has several pieces of bread beside bits of tomato.

Today is an extra breakfast - the first one we have on a Friday. Normally, my girlfriend takes care of Rihanna Gaga on Friday. We have a schedule: on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays Rihanna Gaga is my responsibility, on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays my girlfriend is responsible for her - Wednesday changes every other week. This schedule, though it may look a bit too 'official' when talking about caring for your child, works remarkably well. We have never argued about dividing the tasks, like so many other couples do and it ensures that we spend equal time with our daughter, something I believe is very important for a child's development and attachment to both parents. The schedule isn't set in stone, however, and we change if necessary. When I was doing my intensive course, my girlfriend took care of Rihanna Gaga most of the time and today she has to go to a conference, so I take over.

So, is this indeed the best breakfast at the sea - nay, even better than the best? No. It's definitely a very good breakfast and includes some unique choices (the shepherd's pie and the bacon and beans are a nice touch!), but from the top of my head, Peukie's is better and so is Copacabana's and next door neighbour Doen!'s. One always has to be careful when making claims like this.

Rihanna Gaga is entering a difficult age. As cheerful as she is, her mood can immediately change when she's laid her hands on something she isn't supposed to
- cutlery, honey packages, cigarett butts from the floor - and I take it away from her. She'll either get angry or frustrated to the point where she'll cry her heart out. Fortunately, in the latter case she will let me soothe her. And then she's developed a new habit that really gets on my nerves: she has several teeth now, three upper teeth and three lower teeth and she regularly grinds these. It's a maddening sound that cuts through me like nails on a chalkboard. I tell her to stop whenever she does it, but she'll just smile and continue.

To distract her, I put her next to me on the broad lounge couch on which I'm sitting and I play with her. First we read a Miffy book together, then I tickle her, which sends her into hysteric giggles - when I stop, she takes my hand and gestures that I should continue. After a while she gets tired and we decide to leave. I pay and we make our way back home.

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