It's a bit windy and chilly this morning, so we opt for a table inside. It's still summer vacation, so we're all here: Billie Stormzy and me, my partner and our daughter. We're spending a few days at home, after a short trip to Germany, and before ten days in Groningen. Germany was nice, although the recent sharp rise in Corona cases in the Netherlands had led to the German government adopting sharper measures against people travelling from our country to Germany: everybody over the age of 6 had to have a recent negative corona test with them. This meant that on the morning of our departure, all of us, except Billie Stormzy, had to get tested - for me and my daughter, this was the first time, but it went all very smoothly and we got an sms message a few hours later that we tested negative.
On top of that, I also had to get my second vaccination that day, but I managed to shift the location at a spot on the route to our holiday destination. That didn't cause any trouble either: the whole vaccination programme is run like a military operation and it was very easy to get them to shift my appointment to another place: I just called their national service line and together with a helpdesk agent I checked where on the way to the German border there was still a free spot.
Like my first vaccination, I was impressed by how well-organised everything was at this place: with friendly hosts at every corner, pointing you in the right direction and giving information when needed, it is very much like a factory line: you show your invitation, are given a number, walk on to a series of booths until you reach the one that has your number on it, wait until it's your turn, get your jab from a friendly, chatty medical worker, continue to a waiting area where water and popsicles are served and where you're supposed to wait for up to 15 minutes while red cross staff walks around to see if anyone is stricken by side effects. After that, you can have your vaccination passport stamped and that's that.
After that, we spent six days in Germany, where measures to prevent the spread of Covic-19 are still a bit stricter than in the Netherlands: facemasks in shops are still obligatory, as well as in cafés, both indoors and outdoors - although you're allowed to remove them once you sit down. Children over the age of six also have to wear them, something our daughter did with surprising ease. Seeing we were now all waring a face mask, Billie Stormzy asked for one too - but he didn't press the point, and only mentioned he wanted one once, so I guess he was secretly glad he could skip it for now.
On the whole, it was a very nice holiday: we rented a nice appartment in Sauerland, in a village mostly geared towards skiing in the winter. It was a beautiful, mountainous area and I was struck by how hospitable the people were here: friendly, service minded in a very laidback way. It's clearly a popular spot for Dutch tourists, as many people spoke Dutch.
Patagonia is the first beach club on the so-called "Zwarte Pad", a stretch of beach clubs beyond the Scheveningen Boulevard. It boasts a varied breakfast menu, without a set breakfast. Instead, you can choose between original options such as vegan pumpkin pancakes and French toast made of traditional Frisian sûkerbôle. I opt for Poached Pata Eggs, while my daughter takes the pancakes. My partner has an apple pie, but this turns out to be unavailable, so she has a lemon cheesecake instead.
When the food is brought, it's clear that the design is not the only thing at Patagonia that is executed with an eye for detail. My poached eggs sit on a bed of spinach, slightly cooked salmon, avocado and cress, on top of three toasted brioches. My partner's lemon cheesecake comes with raspbarries, blackbarries and other fruits, and the pumpkin pancakes look delicious as well. As we eat, Billie Stormzy samples from all of us: blackberries and raspberries from his mother, blackberries and bits of pancake from his sister, and egg, salmon and avocado from me.
Soon after, my daughter and her mother are gone off to the playground outside, while I stay inside with Billie Stormzy. He's very calm, and seems to enjoys just sitting there on my lap, staring off in the distance and softly stroking my arm, as if he's deep in thoughts. It's a striking characteristic - so striking it was the firs thing I noticed when he was born, something I probably already mentioned on this blog before - of him to be able to look completely self-contained, wrapped in a world of his own. His inward-orientedness is a nice trait next to his sister's outward-orientedness - it's funny to compare his behaviour with blogposts I wrote when she was about the same age: while she was always trying to catch other people's attention, I've never once seen him do so. That said, I do remember similar moments with her, just sitting on my lap, and the two of us being completely content together.
Since we're all finished eating and drinking, we decide it's time to go. That way, we can still have a walk on the beach before we return home for Billie Stormzy's afternoon nap.
Also on Breakfast at the Beach: Jump back in time to when I visited this place with Rihanna Gaga in 2014
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