TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Sunday Bilthoven, Utrecht A weekend ago I brought the English afternoon tea to Blondine’s. Her lovely tree is up while ours is up as well but with no decors, just lights. I call our tree, the naked Christmas tree. I bought scones and raspberry jam at De Bakkerswinkel , a lovely bakery and lunch place located at Wittevrouwenstraat in Utrecht. Blondine and I had lunch here 2 years ago, see here the blog entry: Utrecht’s secret--Tea, Scones, Clotted Cream and Jam Unfortunately, they ran out of clotted cream so I rushed over to Albert Heijn to buy the not so stellar alternative—whipped cream. The Netherlands isn’t England so we do not have clotted creams stocked in our supermarkets and they are difficult to find over here as well. For tea, I brought some Chinese Oolong and Japanese Green Tea, a gift I received from my sister who is based in Singapore when we saw each other last October-November in the Philippines. She is my tea supplier. This year Blondine and I won’...

I’ve been doing some research online on short hiking - walking paths in Utrecht. Nature walks during the weekend has become a priority for me these days as it is known to be the perfect stress reliever (aside from being a healthy activity). I needed nature and space to empty my hectic mind since as of late I have been dreaming of work related stuff. I can’t seem to stop working at home in the evening and think all the time about work, and work, and work that when I wake up on a Saturday morning, I feel like I have a huge sack of rice nesting on my head. A small barn or perhaps a tool shed in Landgoed Oostbroek just by the entrance near the Orangerie. I think these flowers are pansies? Nevertheless, Dutchman liked the idea that we don’t have to drive far to do our healthy walking regimen. In the summer, which is about a few weeks from now, I plan to buy a new bike. My old one was stolen more than 2 years ago and since then I haven’t had the time to replace it. Well, we will use more the...