The Pensive Pilgrim

Waking up in Groningen is waking up with space in your head. Curtains open, window ajar: fresh air flows in and everything feels lighter immediately. For breakfast, drive to Stoet & Ainvoud. In the middle of the village is an old circus wagon. The smell of currant buns and sourdough bread gives it away: here people bake with guts and love. Everything is organic and local, with ingredients from the region. After a good breakfast, the countryside beckons. Wherever you drive, you see places where the horizon does the work. Near the Wadden Sea, for instance, is the Eemstuin: a powerful place where everything grows naturally. Vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers are harvested by hand. Not far from there, in the middle of the mound, is the church of Warfhuizen. At the back, in the Catholic hermitage, lives Father Hugo: the only hermit in the Netherlands who lives in seclusion. Take a seat on the wooden benches and listen to the wind whipping around the church.

Around lunchtime, eat in a place with a view: a bench on a mound, a dike edge, a quiet road. Quiet, without distractions. In the evening, eat simply and locally at Herberg Restaurant Molenrij, a warm address with a three-room inn. Super local, with no fuss. Then it's time for something different: Wikster van het Wad. Wikster is Groningen for witch, and Pia really does exist. On the edge of the mud flats, she lives in harmony with nature, with the sea as her backyard. The Wiksterstee is a haven of peace where you can land, get inspired and take part in magical rituals. Anything goes, nothing must. A place for mystery, without obligations. Rest is not gone, you just need to know where to find it again.