Because we could not visit my mum on mothersday, we moved it to yesterday.
I had told her we would go out for a high tea. I decided to check if the hotel in her home town offered these, which it did! So we drove up to my mum's place and from there, we could just take a little walk to the high tea.
I grew up in this town and it's a beautiful place for a walk. Lately, they've made it a lot more touristy, because of its history and all the prisons there. There's the national prison museum and many small businesses have grown around it. Surrounding the museum, there are a few new shops and a little tea/coffee place with tasty waffles. Next to the soccer field, there is now a cheese maker/shop and the town's own brewery started there! The beers they make have already won a few contests. They're called Maallust.
There is also a little tea garden, but it has been there for as long as I can remember. It was already there before all the other businesses showed up!
The hotel is quite new aswell and has also thrived on the extra tourism. It has been placed inside a few of the old houses. The town has many of those and they all hold small saying written on the front of the house. The hotel is named after the saying on one of these houses: Bitter en zoet, which means Bitter and sweet.
We went there for dinner once before, a couple of years ago. It is not a very cheap restaurant, but the dinner is really special and tastes great. They use a lot of local products, which means the menu shifts with the seasons.
Behind the hotel is the old hospital building. This building is now used for multiple purposes. There are yoga lessons there, there's a sauna and I think there are also meeting rooms.
The high tea was really nice. There were many home-made sweets and the scones were delicious! I could not eat everything, not even close, so I decided to ask for a doggy bag. Now this sounds easy and simple enough, but in the Netherlands, it is not really a common thing yet. It should be, because it's better than throwing out perfectly good food, but it doesn't happen a lot yet.
This, combined with my big fear of any social interaction, made it quite hard for me to ask for it. As soon as one of the staff was close, I decided to jump right in and ask, because I'd get nervous otherwise. Yes, my face turned red and no, she didn't have an answer ready for me, but after asking, she returned with a paper bag and asked if it was enough.
Personal victory achieved!
Today, I am finishing the sweets I took home with me and mixing in some tomatoes for a much needed healthy addition. Honestly, how people can eat all that sugar during a high tea is beyond me. I guess it's because I've been cutting down on sugar a lot now, so now, whenever I eat sugar, it has a huge effect on me. I basically feel like crap afterwards. Maybe no high tea next time, huh?
Afterwards, we decided to take the scenic route home. We walked by the old hospital and then walked through the little forest behind it, which basically separates the hotel and old hospital from one of the prisons that is still in use today.
Right next to that prison is the little club house building where we used to go every week when we were little to do... I'm not sure what. Do stuff with people our age. I think there was crafts, but also games outside.
Anyway, it's not in use for that anymore. It has now been taken over by another new initiative. These people want to bring some physical activities to the town. They build a small climbing track through the trees and organize active business outings and such.
This is the place where I realized my mum had forgotten her vest, so we walked back! I'll show you more pictures of our route home next time.
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