First I planned to stay with Ruud and Jur in Groningen for one night only, but later we decided that a 3D2N visit would be more relaxed. Because there was a problem with the trains I arrived in Groningen one hour late, but there was time enough to visit the house of my nephew Jasper and have lunch there. His house is a former bakery shop, nicely renovated. To reacht the upper floor you have to master a very steep stairs 😉

We had a nice lunch and Jasper managed to get all three of us on a selfie

After lunch we walked to the town center, where of course I wanted to visit the new Forum building. It is a cultural center, housing the library, a cinema, part of the Groningen museum, restaurants etc, officially opened in 2019. Spectacular architecture, a fascinating contrast with the Martinitoren (1482) next to it

The interior is equally impressive with a complicated system of escalators leading to the various floors. The right photo shows an interesting work of art.

You have to walk stairs to reach the roof. Many people were enjoying the nice weather. The roof has high glass walls , for obvious security reasons. It makes picture taking a bit difficult 😉

Views in all directions. Left the Provinciehuis, the administrative center of the Groningen province, right the Martini tower and church

The inner city is very compact, almost no space for greenery. The right picture shows how flat Groningen province is.

That evening I invited Ruud and Jur for dinner in the Branderij restaurant . What a difference with the Juwelier in Amsterdam. Quality food, reasonable prices friendly service.

We had a very enjoyable evening, as can be seen in these two photos 😉

Ruud and Jur live in an attractive house , where we had breakfast the next morning, before we went out for a touristic trip.

Destination for the day was the Balloërveld, a nature reserve in the province Drenthe, about 25 km south of Groningen town.

One of the attractions of the Balloërveld is the herd of sheep, grazing the heath in the park. We visited the schaapskooi (sheepfold) , but the herd and its shepherd were in another part of the park that day.

We had a nice walk in the park. Here is a collection of the photos I took.

After the walk we had coffee and a snack at the restaurant next to the sheepfold.

I was a bit surprised that even in this part of the Netherlands they have tulip farms.

The province of Drenthe is famous for its hunebedden (dolmens). This one is located near Rolde. Look carefully and you will see a second one in the background

After this nice trip, a beer was a suitable reward, followed by dinner, prepared by Jur.

The next morning I took the train back to Amsterdam