Beachclub Wow

Beachclub Wow describes itself as a "trendy, hip and stylisch location at the sea" and claims that it has a "relaxed, Balinese appearance". I think the Balinese element has to be found in the tropical plants with which the main building of the beachclub is filled, and the white cotton parasols and pillows brought in from Bali (I know the style from my own visits to the island). I let the kids pick a place and, embarassingly, they pick the spot right next to the only other two visitors to the beach club - even more embarassing, because these two women clearly came here to gossip and discuss private matters. While we're here, I pick up bits of conversation about divorces, complaints about husbands and the stress they're having because of the preparations they have to make for their kids' freshman year at university. They clearly don't want to be disturbed - at one monent, one of the women ends a phone call by saying she really can't talk right now because she's driving - and huddle a bit closer together when we sit down. 

There's four of us: Billie Stormzy, his sister and a friend of hers that we picked up on our way here. The girls immediately want to go to the playhouse in front of Wow, but I tell them to wait at least until the waiter has teken our orders. They both pick American pancakes (€9,50 each) and a fresh juice (€4,90 each); I order Breakfast Burritos (€9,50) and an orange juice (€4,50) myself. Once the orders are taken, the girls and Billie Stormzy are off to play on the beach and in the playhouse. Relaxed, jazzy lounge music is playing. The waiter is whiping the couches of Wow's terraces and the women continue to discuss their lives and woes with each other. The weather is beautiful: sunny, with a clear blue sky, but lots of clouds at the edge that somehow accentuate that this really is a pleasant day to spend at the beach. 

Billie Stormzy returns and asks for the pancakes. He picks up everything these days: the girls ordered pancakes, so he's expecting them. I tell him we'll have to wait some more, but he wants them know and becomes angry. He is prone to tantrums: whenever he's not immediately understood, doesn't get what he wants, or even when he's offered something - food, a toy - that he doesn't want at that moment, he can easily get very angry or desparate. This time, however, his fit dies out quickly. He climbs on my lap and lies his head to my chest. He's been a bit ill for the last few days, throwing up and being generally tired. Maybe the summer holiday was a bit too much, travelling first to Germany, then spending ten days in Groningen, and after a few days at home returning to Groningen for a long weekend. Or maybe his stomach was upset because of something he ate, or he caught something at the daycare.

Breakfast is brought and I call the girls. I ask them if they can give one pancake each (there's four per person on their plate) to Billie Stormzy and they do so without hesitation. He eats the first on given to them with relish, but stops at the last bite and doesn't want the other one, so that one they can share between them. The pancakes come with nutella sprinkled over them, raspberries and strawberries and the girls seem to really enjoy them. My Burrito breakfast is a great change from the usual breakfast fare at the Scheveningen beach clubs: wraps filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar cheese and a tomato salsa, with guacamole en crème fraîche to dip them in. In fact, this could very well be one of the best breakfasts I've had so far - good stuff. 

Billie Stormzy gets off my lap and demands that I come dance with him - he clearly likes this music. When I tell him I'm still eating, he wanders around Wow's terrace for a bit, then returns to see if his sister wants to come with him. She does for a little while, then returns to her pancakes. I've finished my burritos in the meantime and get ready to dance with him, but now he wants to be picked up, carried - and yes, he also still wants to dance, that is to say: he wants me to dance while I'm holding him. 

I humour him for a while, then decide it's time to go. The girls are off to find a toilet, while I try to locate the waiter so that I can pay, still carrying Billie Stormzy. None of the kids want to put their shoes back on when we walk back to our bicycles. 

Also on Breakfast at the Beach: Jump back in time to when I visited this place with Rihanna Gaga in 2017