In sharp contrast to last week when rain got in our way, today’s weather was beautiful, even if a bit too warm, and calm and sunny as it could be. Given this not too usual opportunity of a gezellig – blissfully cozy – outing, the first to come to mind was someplace calm in Gelderland, possibly somewhere we still had unfinished business. A week later and as eventually promised, we were back in quaint Hoog Soeren.

After an entire week of staying in, and armed with plenty of anticipation, we left Amsterdam just before lunchtime along with apparently a lot of other similarly-minded folk – traffic was much busier than usual today – finally arriving in the familiar greens of the Kroondomein, excited for the afternoon ahead. First item on the list, however, was lunch. A nice glass of Sauvignon to start, a messy-looking uitsmijter for Teko, the ‘Perfect Pork’ and some addictive fries for me, surrounded by rural beauty, quiet people, and decent service that were just what the country doctor ordered.

Short of knocking on the doors of the pretty houses we walked by – I was curious to have a look inside all of them – we were able to cover the whole village, from the seasonal corn and wheat fields all around town, to the quaint, all white chapel, to the Linden tree that Queen Wilhelmina planted 122 years ago. It was a busy day for the three-street village that is Hoog Soeren, what with the many cyclists on the roads, its three restaurants all looking busy, and even a wedding scheduled for today in the understandably small Protestant chapel. There was no better place to tie the knot and start a life together forever, I thought.

After lunch and our slow meander to see the local attractions it was time for the awaited nature walk, which didn’t disappoint. Aside from another couple, we were the only ones on the walking paths and the nature-averse side of me very much appreciated being surrounded by mature pines and the sound of just footsteps. With thanks to the current monarch who owns all 10,000 hectares of Kroondomein estate where we were in, we had a pleasant, relaxed afternoon in blissful coziness, where quality of life is paramount, and Covid-19 was out of sight and out of mind. It was yet another Saturday outing for the ages.