I managed to just avoid a Cinderella moment last night, making it back to Dumpling Towers as the Westerkerk clock struck midnight. I'd been down to Leiden for the evening, you see; the lovely Jessica took me out for dinner as my birthday present -- and very good it was, too. Gazpacho as an amuse bouche, the tuna tartare pictured below as a starter, a lovely piece of halibut and some scallops as the main -- unfortunately on a bed of asparagus, as neither of us like it, particularly the white flabby stuff -- and melon soup with berries and apple sorbet to finish up. We sat outside the restaurant, enjoying the long, light, and warm evening; we were on a charming side street, notable for the loud group of sorority sisters having a meal outside their house and for the large number of men in flash cars who cruised up and down the street periodically. Drug dealers? Simply perving on the sorority girls? Hard to tell. We then strolled (or in Jessica's case, hobbled -- new shoes!) back through the very busy streets of central Leiden to the station, where my non-pumpkin-based carriage awaited.
The Dutch rail service is what makes evenings like this possible. No need to book ahead, no weird tiers of fares, frequent and rapid services that run late into the night. The train I got back to Centraal left at 23:17 and was packed -- and was one of about 4 or 5 per hour. It went via Haarlem, where the station was also heaving with people on their way back from an evening at the beach. I guess this is why people can just use bikes and not need a car -- the train service fills in any gaps. Impressive.
Overall, a really lovely evening out. Thank you, Jessica!
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