Ramon received a gift early this year. A voucher to have an all-expenses paid dinner with four, at Tante Koosje in Loenen aan de Vecht, a well-known star-awarded restaurant.

We haven’t had the time yet to collect, until yesterday. We went with our friends  whom joined us at our holiday to Italy last June. We really didn’t know what to expect. But our evening couldn’t go wrong anymore, after I called the restaurant to ask if they would allow a dog to lie under our table. Without a single hesitation, they agreed, and would arrange a table for us where he wouldn’t be bothered or considered a nuisance. We booked a dog friendly hotel in the vicinity, and packed our bag.

 

 

I had never before been to Loenen aan de Vecht, and now that I’ve been, I am in love. My painters heart went crazy. All the houses I so loved to paint, when I still was a professional house painter. Old houses and manors, all still in perfect condition. And with all the Christmas wreaths hanging on the doors and fences, the warm light of Christmas trees coming from inside the houses, and the chill that made my nose drip, made me feel like we were walking in a Charles Dickens story.

 

 

When it was time to enter the restaurant, my feeling was made complete. The interior was so beautiful, so cosy and yet so elegantly rich. Again it was like we went back in time. I was already in love with this tiny town, but now I was head over heels.

 

 

This was truly an unique experience. Something  we would never have experienced, if it wasn’t given as a gift. It is so very expensive, but looking back, so very worth it. Something I never thought I would say. I always believed that you pay way too much for a posh dinner with way too little on your plate, and leave still hungry, to stop at the MacDrive on the way home. But it was nothing of a sort.

 

 

We were treated like kings and queens; napkins neatly folded when you pardoned the table, water for Kuzco was brought in a polished silver bowl, exquisite tastes that were combined together to cause an ultimate mouthgasm, which made us sigh of delight after each bite. Each plate they served was an artwork by itself, but one so deliciously looking, you couldn’t wait to put your fork and knife into it. Even though you knew this jewel to the eye would then totally be ruined, no matter how careful you sliced the littlest piece. Every single wine they chose to complete each different dish, was a mouthwatering sensation. Together with the charming ambience, and terrific company, this was a most delighted evening.

Our friends drove us back to the hotel, where Kuzco made our hearts melt even more than he already did that evening by being such a well-behaved good little boy. Instead of jumping on the bed, he snuggled in the trolley, and within minutes, he was fast asleep.

 

 

The next morning we had a long early morning walk back to our car, which was still parked at the restaurant. We talked and laughed along the way, and couldn’t get over the fact how amazingly wonderful our evening before had been. If there would ever be an extraordinary special occasion to celebrate, I might even want to save for it, to do it all over again.