Another Blogger Meet-Up

In my last post I told you that I was gonna meet up with a new Shutterchance blogger yesterday! I DID!

I took the train(s) from Amsterdam to Arkel, 1-1/2 hours and 3 trains south, to meet Astrid, another real Dutch Girl.

Doesn't she look Dutch! :)

Does her Dutchness rub off on me, I wonder? I sure wish her Dutch language did! Her English totally puts my lack of Dutch to shame, so immediately, on the spot, I committed myself to buckle down and get serious about learning this new language, which happens to be MUCH HARDER than German (IMHO = in my humble opinion).

It was a drizzly, rainy sort of Holland day. So even though I had taken my camera, expecting to take an untold number of photos, we both just stayed inside and used the time to get to know each other. Yakkity-yak, yakkity-yak!

And because it was a 6-1/2 hour stretch, we had to eat, of course, so Astrid decided to choose "a room with a view," which happened to be the town's best restaurant, I'm sure. It sits on the Merwede River where barges (background) take their wares to and from Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe.

And was it ever fabulous! Decadent is more like it. But in that moment, we both decided the occasion deserved it. It was a very special, serendipitous, eternalized moment, when you don't care how decadent something is!
What you see above is two different presentations of pheasant. The balled part reminded me of rich turkey!

I was halfway through the white fish course before I remembered I hadn't taken a photo yet (sorry about that), but you at least see the green "vegetable" that looked like a cross between very skinny asparagus and French green beans. WRONG! I don't know the name in Dutch or English but it's a reed-like substance from the sea and it was WONDERFUL.

How's that for dessert! OMG! See what I mean about decadent! On the back of the plate, that's crème without the brûlée. And a cinnamon liquoer drink in the tall glass; I can't remember what in the smaller glass. And a cafe latte that reminded me of my German latte macchiatos!

Then, from our table, we watched the kids going home from school via the ferry boats. How cool is that!

Sometimes I feel like I'm in heaven on earth! Do you have those times? Then you know exactly how I felt yesterday, meeting a kindred spirit whom I felt I had known forever.

Now we'll have to figure out how we can get Donica and a couple other blogger ladies all hooked up for one hoot of a time together. Maybe sometime in the spring. :)