The Dream City Hotel - Holland's Finest

The enchanting Hotel Des Indes

Save for the Waldorf Astoria, Ritz or one of the impeccable Four Seasons' addresses, Hotel Des Indes stands out as the best city hotel the Netherlands have to offer. Well, in my opinion of course.

Situated on 'Europe's most beautiful avenue', Hotel Des Indes is a haven of luxury in the hart of The Hague. The yellow façade of this five star deluxe retreat embraces you even before you enter.

My wife and I spent an enchanting day and magical night here to celebrate our fifth anniversary. A swift check in followed by some complimentary Pouilly Fumés (for me) and lemon verbena tea (from Thieme's Echte Thee) on the narrow but stylish terrace overlooking the Lange Voorhout, kicked off our stay at the Des Indes.

The newly refurbished hotel also features a 315-square-metre health club that has it all: swimming pool (which is actually a small plunge pool with jet stream), gym, spa and beauty salon. Between a city walkabout and dinner at restaurant Maxime we took the opportunity to try the pool, take a steam bath and experience the Swedish sauna in the basement that used to house the kitchen. An exclusive experience of total relaxation.

The most attentative service (in any case alien to Holland), impeccable interiors and exteriors on a dream location in the Royal City equals sheer bliss!

   

The Dream Workout - Hula Hoops

Not long ago, my lovely wife was browsing the web for a decent hula hoop. "A thorough but fun workout", she read somewehere and decided to immediately look for a shop in Amsterdam. Hard to find I must say. She later checked out some sites but left it at that.

Yesterday though, I accidentally passed by a shop on one of the outskirts of Amsterdam selling professional hula hoops and bought one for her.

In the evening she gave it a first and within minutes she got the hang of it. Even with her current physique (which is quite fit), the next day every inch of her upper body was sore, which is a good thing I guess. But next video will keep her focussed (or so she told me): Lisa Lottie Hula Hoops. I will post an update whenever she's ready to shoot a short movie ;-).

The Dream Folding Knife - An Original Laguiole

The artisanal Laguiole folding knife

A knife like no other.

Now I have to admit that the romantic story of (I think it was) Mart Smeets - a well known Dutch sports presentor - ending up on a meadow in France during the Tour de France, left me curious. His car broke down and some farmers approached him and asked if they could be of any assistance. When it was lunchtime they invited him to share a meal with them on one of the fields nearby. A long table was set out by the women and they all got seated. What immediately struck him as strange was the fact that only forks were handed out to the men. The women got both forks and knives. Right after the cutlery was handed out, all the men pulled out their own Laguiole knives, which they used for basically any purpose imaginable, as one of the younger farmers explained to him later.







The Laguiole knife, an 19th century juxtapose between the Spanish Navaja knife and the Capuchadou (from the Aubrac region), since conquered the world with it's sleek and sexy lines. My next Laguiole purchase would be a collection of table knives (see above). Whether it be a simple and sober knife, a champagne sabre or a rosewood set corkscrew, you can only but admire the outstanding piece of craftmanship.