Local - Hoorn
- Rosy Vineyard
- Aug 24, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 28, 2020
You can have as many Yelp stars as you wish, but when the wall is filled with handwritten notes from happy regulars, you really won the game. I have the habit of filling my very Dutch “Dopper” (a bottle brand) in the toilet room after arrival in a café and that is where I find Local's stacked post-it walls. Truly convincing and fun to read. The café is situated in a tiny Dutch place called Hoorn, the birthplace of one of my former roommates. That’s how I knew I had to visit the Golden Age heritage with its untouched harbours and terraced houses with sculptured facades. I find myself a spot in the front, looking over de pedestrian street. A regular walks in as the women behind two cake covers welcomes him and presents the menu: “I have a nice tuna melt. With cheese, tuna, onions, capers..” The man’s eyes are open wide as he calls out “A bit common don’t you think? Jeez, back in the days they asked whether you wanted ham, cheese or both and that was about it.” They laugh like old friends and talk on about exams of the kids, the crafty workshops that are held upstairs and how shitty they slept last week. They refer to people from the village they both know. For these simple things, I absolutely love the small town. Cling is the sound of my Chai Latte being served on the table, house blend. Yup, no coffee, is that oké? I already had two this morning and we need to keep some boundaries. The latte seems balanced and calm, not like the common super sweet powder that is a direct insult to the Indian tradition.
My book is still closed, because I’m too busy going through the photos I just took in Hoorn. Of the harbour and its ships, and the tinier-than-tiny café called “De Kelp” (an alga) — six very old men were playing games on the only table that nearly fitted in the room whilst smoking a pipe. I took so many, that I consider myself a tourist more than a Dutch citizen on a daytrip. But then again, during the pandemic there is nothing more dope for me and my compatriots than to crash the countryside.
Good day for now,
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