Dogs remember. Ardie remembers he isn’t supposed to eat the cat food, but he does anyway. He also remembers the one time we tipped him over in his trailer and he has never forgiven me for it. Well, as dog’s go, he probably has forgiven me, but he certainly has reservations about riding in it. I am determined to make him enjoy it, I tell him it’s just like riding in the car, except you don’t have to stick your head out the window because you get the wind in your face no matter what. He’s not buying it.
I really wanted Ardie to ride along with me because I knew that treats awaited him and I wanted him to know there were treats coming his way. Besides, he would just sit inside on the couch while I enjoyed the sunshine and coffee by myself, which is no way for a dog to spend his day. So I made the decision for him and set him in the trailer.
He was not happy about that. Trust me, I said. Then we rode off, heading to my fourth coffeeneuring destination and some Sunday brunch.
See? I knew you’d like it.
The restaurant we were headed to was across the border in the Netherlands, a little place called ‘t Bergoes. It is popular on Sundays, not only because it’s a nice place to sit and enjoy food and drinks, but also because it’s close to Germany where nothing is open on Sundays. So you’ll see carriages and people on horses stopping by to get lunch because, y’know, they still do that around here.
You’ll also see a lot of bicyclists—mostly the everyday, wearing normal clothes variety, but a handful of mountain bikers and roadies make their way here for a beer or two on their weekend rides. In fact, I think everyone that was there arrived on either a horse or a bicycle. I’m not even sure how you get there by car.
I sat outside on the picnic table and Ardie sat underneath. Dogs are also very common here and he had plenty of fellow dogs to sniff and stare at. Then the waitress came by, took my order, and gave Ardie a couple of dog biscuits. What a pampered pup.
I ordered a coffee with Schrobbeler, which I’d like to call a Dutch Coffee (as opposed to Irish or Spanish, respectively) even though it’s probably not called that by anyone, ever. Regardless, it’s very good. And I ordered an omelet that was also very delicious. In this part of the world, the bread alone is worth going out to eat for.
Feeling quite satisfied, Ardie and I left ‘t Berghoes and rode back towards the house. For having behaved quite well, I let Ardie out of the trailer so he could run the trail for the last half a mile. Tail wagging, he ran ahead of me, looking back every so often to make sure I was still riding behind him. Hopefully this trip left a positive enough impression on him that he won’t be so reluctant to do it again in the future.
- Bicyclist Abroad
Coffeeneur Quick Stats:
| Location: | Restaurant ‘t Berghoes Haarenderweg 1 6105 AW Maria Hoop The Netherlands [website] |
| Drink: | “Dutch Coffee” |
| Date: | Sunday, October 19th |
| Distance: | 8.2 km/ 5 miles |
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