Independent, The (London): WHERE WILL YOU BE RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR? ZENDEREN EAST HOLLAND

The trouble with weddings is that it is (too) easy to make new friends and, in all the excitement and alcohol, even make absurd travel plans. That is how we came to be sharing a small farmhouse with five other couples, some of whom we'd not met before, for a week in the pleasant but scenically unambitious region of Zenderen.

East Holland. Two hours by train from Schiphol. The middle of nowhere. And could it really sleep 12, as the internet site had promised us?

The house, thankfully, was Tardis-like. Each couple got their own bedroom - ours featured a stunning photo-print picture wall of Middle- Earth proportions. The lack of a dishwasher was compensated for by the efficiency of our hosts: a PlayStation, stereo system and many videos with Dutch subtitles were provided to while away the long hours of darkness. A toastie maker and a deep fryer were brought to add fat to the thighs. And because it was near freezing outside, the Grolsch was always at perfect drinking temperature.

Almost as soon as we got there, a blanket of snow smothered the farmland. Walks in the winter wonderland were interspersed with the pyrotechnic fixations of the locals nearby, who enjoyed lighting their fireworks as soon as the mood took them, which was usually between lunch and bedtime.

The pond froze over on day two and the almost full moon that rose over it bathed the landscape in a surreal blue light, adding a feeling of magic to the proceedings. We lit a bonfire near the pond and built a snowman.

Each night a different couple was on cooking duty, and the need to produce a more dynamic gourmet feast than the previous candidates became pressing. Exotic tastes from Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico and Italy put paid to my expectation of bland Dutch fare.

The build-up to Nieuwjaar included a bingo night with our Dutch friends dressed like extras from an Essex gangster film. New Year's Eve itself was spent in cocktail attire as we played roulette for prizes on a cheap toy-store roulette wheel, with bets placed on a baize cloth that someone appeared to have lifted from a casino. Somehow the evening seemed much more civilised than the standard British New Year, even though prodigious quantities of lager were consumed.

The website of the house the writer stayed in is www.alassy.nl/ nederland/ vakantiehuizen/overijssel/vak_ov_11. htm. Flights to Amsterdam are widely available from UK airports, with fares starting at about pounds 60 return