Two Dinners to Remember: The Arrivals

Dinner One:  The Netherlands

For most food is a intregal part of one's vacation, eating the local cruisine and drinking the local beverages.  For me, I found it essential to my journey, taking photos of the presentation of my meals and the wine and beer, mostly so I would remember them.   As many of the blogs I follow also center around food, I wanted to make this one worthy of those who cherish food as I do; I also need to add my own literary spin ...

This first dinner was Wednesday evening when I first arrived in The Netherlands.  Worn from the long journey and choosing not to sleep, I spent the evening with Sara and Fiona, the Dutch hostess who would introduce me to my adventure in a classic way ... with laughter and a little orneriness.  Here is the story ...

Three woman:  a Dutch beauty, whose charm could woo many a gentleman; an English au pair, whose youthful loveliness could draw the immediate attention from onlookers; and a weary traveler, an older American woman searching for her identify, for her make-up and hair brush, whose attractiveness was hidden beneath years of sadness and lack of self-esteem and a 8-hour plane ride across the Atlantic.  (I'm certain you've already guessed my identify by now . . .)

The evening dinner is at a beautiful restaurant on the beach, although the cooler temperatures keep us closer to the front where an outdoor heater warms us.  We begin with a buttery Chardonnay and the house appetizer consisting of pickled cucumber, a minature bite of a ham product, and a truffle sauce, placed delicately on a tiny spoon, perfect for one bite. Delightful.  Then the beautiful Dutch woman proceeded to 'force' the ladies to each choose an appetizer; one would surely not be enough ... the choices, Sushi and Sashimi, Spring Rolls, and Carpaccio.  Delicious.  Dinner followed with a second bottle of Chardonnay and Dutch Ribeye, Shrimp Pasta, and Duck Thigh.  Delectable.  A perfect, unforgettable evening meal ...

But the ladies were not alone, thanks to the timing of a large gathering of gentlemen arriving for a boisterous evening of their own type of fun, and as the only females in the establishment, the flocking began.  As some of the gentlemen were smokers, their need to be outside was apparent, a need to gather around the only table of women, one who could speak the Dutch languge with them, just a bonus.

For the young au pair, the gentlemen were typical, annoying, and a disruption of the evening.  At one point, she was caught shaking her head, sending the messages to the gentleman that she should not be approached.  (I loved it.)  For the Dutch beauty and the older American, the gentlemen were entertainment, comic relief, and a boost to the ego.  What a scene.  The Dutch beauty charmed them with her humor, her wit, her smile, and they gathered closer and closer, growing more and more intoxicated.  Of course, the Americans could not understand most of the conversations, only the nonverbal cues that were openly being sent by the gentlemen.  Oh, the language of "the move" apparent. 

So the appropriate dessert for the ladies -- a glass of 40-year-old Port, another extremely kind gift from the Dutch hostess.  Now the American traveler loves her Port, quite a bit actually, so this was the highlight of the meal, at least until the oldest gentleman, who appeared to have ingested the most spirits throughout the evening, kindly asked for a continuation of the evening ... another bar perhaps?  In a laughable moment, the older gentleman kept hugging, and hugging, and hugging the American traveler, finally ending his advances with a kiss to the hand, taking his rejection quite well.

The evening ended with many laughs and stories to be told over and over.  What a start to my adventure ...  the American woman has smiled ever since ...