After many weeks of planning and preparation, Tintin and I took advantage of a long weekend to visit some other Eurogay© friends in Groningen, the Netherlands. After five hours, four trains and a mere 30 pages of Allen Carr’s EASYWAY to Stop Smoking Permanently, we arrived. Sadly, on our first night we left our camera in a Thai restaurant and were unable to retrieve it until the following evening, so photos of the town itself are somewhat thin on the ground. But take our word for it that Groningen is a pretty little city, with excellent shopping and a fabulous market selling fresh fruit, veg, meat, fish, cheese and flowers.
A warning: the visitor to Groningen must be careful on the roads, which are dominated by high-speed cyclists with basketfuls of cheese, baguettes and sunflowers. Another Dutch stereotype confirmed was cleanliness and efficiency, no more starkly apparent than during our cross-border train ride where barren wastelands and dilapidated high-rises gave way to neat gardens and pretty window-boxes. Groningen has numerous examples of lovely 1930s architecture, not least our hosts’ fabulous apartment, and some highly agreeable green and open spaces.
We also had the opportunity to brave the hustle and bustle of what is the Groningen gay scene, namely a monthly club night attended by at least 35 hardcore revellers. The distinct lack of atmosphere was, however, partially compensated for by the free ice-lollies, flumps, and the two extremely athletic pole dancers who made up for in flexibility what they lacked in pulchritude.
Due to the lack of interesting photos, to get a flavour of what Groningen has to offer you will have to make do with this rather uninspiring snap, taken from our hosts' amazing roof terrace:
Here is a photo of Tintin on the "train ride of doom":
And here is a picture of me looking at a fish:
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