Eating al fresco in the garden of Eden

Wake to the sound of coots calling to each other on the canal, outside it is a little cloudy and hazy, Andrew is still asleep, so I tread softly and go downstairs and make a pot of strong Italian coffee, brought from home. A few minutes later Gino gets up, shortly followed by Andrew, we make a full English, using the bacon and eggs, Graham bought for us. The bacon is very thin, like prosciutto, but we fry it slowly until it is crispy and it works OK. We take our time over breakfast and then decide to have a drive into town to see what's there and do a little shopping. We park next to the square and walk to the pub next to the church and order coffee and deep dish Dutch apple pie, which we eat sat outside in the sunshine. At noon the church bell chimes Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", and shortly after the little bridge over the canal raises to let a boat through. When it comes down again a backlog of cyclists streams past us. Last year there were two bikes at the house and we rented some more, so we enquire at the bike shops in town, but none rent bikes. Leaving the others at the cafe, I walk round the corner to the library to enquire about bikes and tourist maps, they tell me there may be bikes at the railway station at Maarssen Broek, or failing that we can get some from Utrecht station. They also tell me to go to the local bookshop for bike and tourist maps. I pass the others on my way there and tell them where I am going, they are having a beer. The bookshop have no tourist maps but point me towards the town hall, which turns out to be half a mile away, in a park. When I eventually get there they give me a couple of maps and I make my way back to the others and explain where I have been and then we explore the village. Most of the shops are shut on Mondays, fortunately the local supermarket, "Dirk van de Broek", is open and we stock up on provisions. There are three things I like to eat in Holland, apple pie, veal schnitzels and mussels and chips and they have schnitzels in the supermarket and also Warsteiner beer, from Germany near to where I used to be stationed on the Mohne Dam. Gino, buys salad, pasta and ante pasta and we load the provisions in the car and drive back to the house. The weather has really picked up and it's sunny and warm again, so we open the salami, prosciutto and cheeses, sundried tomatoes, olives and spicy peppers stuffed with cream cheese. Slice the crusty bed, open the wine and eat lunch outside. I have been rabbiting on about Warsteiner being, perhaps, the best beer in the world, so we have to try some and as a consequence lunch lasts three hours. Jackie decides to have a rest, while we boys watch Tony Scott's film "True Romance", on DVD, it has a great cast, dialogue by Quentin Tatantino, and a great scene between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken, which is amongst my favourite cinema moments. Afterwards we read or do puzzles and laze about. No one really feels like doing much today anyway, so we spend the day at the house and then make veal schnitzels with spaghetti and salad for dinner. Gino is a great cook, his dad was a chef and his mum is Italian, so he and I tend to do the cooking and Jackie and Andrew usually clear up afterwards. Dinner is excellent and we all go to bed for about eleven o'clock.