Easter time is always a good period to have a short vacation. Usually the weather is getting better, and after the first busy months of the year, I really need a break.
This year was no exception, especially with the work we have for our new house. Therefore we decided to book a flight and rest. We didn’t have to think long for our destination; we were looking for a beautiful country with nice weather and nice people. Yes, Holland!
With a little bit of phoning (only one call!) we found a nice hostel which fitted our needs perfectly: Hotel Sangers in Harmelen. It’s really cheap and has big comfortable rooms which look just like somebody has been living there until not so long ago. A perfect place to relax some days.
On Friday night I explored the local night life. There is an amazingly big offer of activities in Harmelen. I decided to have a sportive evening, and went to watch the Crespon darts tournament, organised by Darts club Pirates.
Saturday after we woke up (quite late of course) we went shopping. First to the supermarket to buy all thing we cannot buy in Lleida like dropjes (zacht zoet), tijgernootjes, sup-a-soup tomato and cheese. Then we went to Utrecht to look for things for our house. We found a couple from Spain doing the same thing, but unbelievable for us they decided to buy paper serviets!!! Like we don’t have paper towels over here!!!!
What can Catalan tourists do on an average Easter day? Since the shops were closed, we decided to go for some sight seeing. Our target was the river ‘Lek’ and the city Culemborg.
After getting the so-called fresh nose, we headed to Haarzuilens for a typical Easter custom: palm pasen. I can assure that the Palm beer tasted really good! That evening we enjoyed another typical Dutch custom: gourmetten. And we were not the only ones leaving palm pasen for this wonderful experience. In short: gourmetten is a way to invite friends for dinner without actually having to cook! No wonder it’s popular in Holland…
Of course we have bought a set for gourmet. After all, we want our Dutch visitors to feel at home when they come to Lleida.
