Chapter 24 – Dutch treat?

'Wait a moment', Edwin suddenly said, 'We are with too many persons. The baby seat takes one full place of the backseat. With me as the driver, I will be able to transport only three adults at the most, but you are with four!'

'Hmm', Martin replied, 'and what creative solution do you have in mind to overcome this problem? '

He was clearly testing the young man.

'Well… we can either ask a taxi to follow us, with one or two of us, or… I'll drive twice..? It depends where you wish to go, I presume. If it's far away, the second option wouldn't be good unless you wish to eat in shifts, which you most certainly won't. So tell me, where shall I bring you tonight?'

'Restaurant Greetje'. Martin tried to pronounce it properly, but h nearly choked when trying to say Greetje with the typical Dutch glottal sound. 'Peperstraat'.

Edwin entered the address in the browser of his telephone. 'Definitely option one', he said and quickly walked to the reception to order a taxi.

'What kind of restaurant is it Martin?, Louisa asked.

'Their food is based on classical Dutch dishes, but everything is made with fresh ingredients. Looked pretty healthy and nutritious to me.'

Edwin returned and said, 'Right.. who is coming with me – apart from James, who will occupy his own seat?'

'Peter, why don't you take the taxi with me', Louisa suggested, 'I have so much to tell you about the village and about all of your classmates and all the others you know. My family isn't interested in that .. they know it already. Then all of us can hear all about yourself and your mother at the restaurant'.

'Good, fine, that's settled then', Martin concluded. He gestured Morwenna to follow him and he walked to the door leading to the garage. Edwin quickly wrote down the name and address of the restaurant on a piece of paper and handed it to Louisa. 'The taxi driver has been instructed already where to go, but just to be sure', he explained and ran after Martin, Morwenna and James.

Edwin carefully manoeuvred the Lexus through the streets of Amsterdam. It was the end of the rush hour, but there was still a lot of traffic on the streets. Bikers zigzagged through the stream of cars, suddenly turning left, forcing priority from left or even rounding a roundabout clockwise instead of anticlockwise.

'Are they mad?' Martin asked.

Edwin chuckled. 'This is a rather normal view here at this time of the day, I'm afraid. You know, as driver of a car, you're always held responsible should something happen to a biker or a pedestrian, even if you are the one who respects the traffic rules. So.. car drivers have to be extremely careful. Most bikers and pedestrians know that and take advantage of it, I guess'.

'What about traffic accidents, then?'

'Well, I don't know the figures by heart, but I think that the number of mortal accidents per 100000 inhabitants is comparable to the UK, about 12 or 14, but that's all types of accidents together. About 200 persons die every year in what we call a bike accident. In most cases it concerns a bike hit by a car or a van.. About 80000 persons have to be treated in a hospital after an accident with a bike, most of them caused by a simple fall and mostly elderly people are involved'.

'Hmm, not the children, going to school and so on?'

'No. When they are really small, there's always a parent accompanying them. Of course that's not a hundred percent guarantee, but it certainly reduces the risk. And at school, at the age of ten or eleven, they actually have dedicated classes to learn how to move in the everyday traffic. The pupils have to pass a genuine test and they get a diploma when they pass it.'

'Same principle for swimming I presume, with all the water around?', Martin stated, pointing at a canal.

'Exactly! Most children have two or three swimming grades before they are seven years old'.

Soon after that, they arrived at the restaurant.

Martin loosened the buckle of his safety belt, but before he stepped out of the car, he said,

'Listen, Mr. de Vries, have you had your dinner yet? I guess Louisa and Peter have a lot to talk about, so, would you care to join us and tell me and Morwenna more about your country?'

'Thank you sir, I'd be glad to. I'll first try to find a place to park the car and then join you'.

Morwenna fetched the baby bag from the boot of the car, while Martin lifted James out of his seat and together they entered the restaurant. Martin found out that they didn't have a high chair for James, which wasn't very practical and he was about to say something rude to the waiter. Morwenna saw it happen. As she didn't want to spoil the evening, she tucked on Martin's sleeve and told her boss:

'Come on Doc, we can manage!, we'll all take him on our laps alternately and when he gets tired, we'll ask Edwin – Mr. de Vries – to go and get the stroller, OK? That will be fun, isn't it sweetie? , she added, smiling at James and tickling him under his chin.

Martin grunted as an answer and made a mental note that he should find a solution for the rest of their holiday.

Just then Louisa and Peter Cronk entered the restaurant, happily chatting with each other about anything and everything. Finally, Edwin entered. His forward looking view had made him decide to bring the baby stroller with him. For the moment, he put it aside.

'How did you know that we would need that?', Morwenna enquired, pointing at the stroller.

'I have been here with my sister and her husband. They have a little one too, so …', Edwin replied.

'They sometimes encountered the same problem in other restaurants too. Now they bought a very practical highchair at IKEA, that you can easily take with you. Incredibly strong and very cheap, only ten euro or so', Edwin answered her. 'Look, this is what it looks like'.

'Gee, that looks practical indeed!' then in a lower voice she added 'Can I ask you a favour? Could you go and get one for me at that shop tomorrow? Or do you think I can order it and have it delivered at the hotel? I wish to give the Ellinghams a small present to thank them, because they let me come with them to this beautiful country. I know it's meant to be work, but it is kind of a holiday too'.

'I think I can manage that. Maybe even with Dr. Ellingham's own car, if he asks me to bring you and Louisa somewhere tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll go by means of the tube, don't worry, consider it done, OK?'

Louisa smiled at her husband, 'What a great idea to invite Edwin as well Martin, well done.' '

'Hmm', Martin answered still found it difficult to react at a compliment, so he lookd down and busied himself with turning a page of the small book James was 'reading' while comfortably sitting on his father's lap and babbling happily.

The waiter brought the menus and took the orders for the drinks. Martin, Edwin and Morwenna started to make their choice, but Peter and Louisa were so busy that they forgot to look at it. Martin decided to make a choice for them as well.

'Mr. de Vries, tell me what you'd recommend us to eat. I 'd like to taste something typically Dutch.' 'Well sir', Edwin answered, 'If you wish to taste a bit of everything, I would take Greetjes big beginning. I suggest to order two of them. Each portion is meant to be for 2 persons, but I think that 2 portions will be enough for the five of us. Among other things, you'll taste typical things like Frisian sugar bread, confit of Beemster lamb and some of the organic black pudding. And after that maybe the grilled cod with North sea crab sauce pearl barley and organic spinach, or roasted fillet of sea bass with lemon sauce, sautéed red beets and Nicola potatoes from the oven? For James I'd suggest to ask something off the menu, they'll bring him some vegetables and fish without strong flavoured sauce…', Edwin suggested.

'Excellent suggestion', the waiter, who brought the drinks said when Martin placed their orders.

'Please make sure that my son's food arrives together with our starters', Martin ordered gently.

While waiting for their starters and James' meal, Morwenna chatted with Edwin, so Martin turned towards the other two and quietly listened to their conversation.

'Peter, tell me, was your mother able to start a new fish and chips shop?'

'No Mrs. Ellingham, but she found a job at a decent little restaurant, with a decent salary. Much better for her. Less worries and less responsibilities and thus less panic attacks.'

'Sorry to ask.., but did she earn enough to save for your study?'

'Not really Mrs. Ellingham, but one day, I received a letter announcing that I would be able to benefit of a scholarship, financed by a Foundation called "Young talents, a guarantee our future". I tried to found out which wealthy man or woman is behind this Foundation, but I never found out who it is. The only thing I have to do is working hard for my exams, pass them and send a quarterly report to the Association. They really follow their beneficiaries closely and I suppose the scholarship will stop when your results drop. I am so eager to become a doctor, I won't allow myself to fail. It's good to see that somewhere in the world, someone cares about families like my own. As soon as I'm a doctor, and reasonably paid, I will surely pay them back some of the money and I hope that will help another boy or girl in my kind of situation too!'

Louisa glanced at Martin, who was fumbling his napkin nervously. She wondered why that might be. She wasn't completely sure of what she saw. Why would her husband's ear tips suddenly turn red?

Before she could ask him, the starters were served, so she made a mental note to ask Martin about it later.

'Well, lucky you! I have all confidence in you', she said, 'Peter, you'll be a fine doctor, or surgeon. Now let's try these Dutch specialities. Edwin, can you please tell us a bit more about these dishes and where they come from?

The starter dishes contained amongst others a terrine of green and white asparagus, which came from one of the southern provinces of the country, Brabant or Limburg, Beemster lamb, from North Holland, smoked trout, probably also from Limburg. The pan fried cookies of 'hot lightning' caught Louisa's special attention.

'Edwin, why is this called 'hot lightning', she wanted to know.

'Originally, it is what we call a "stampot" a main dish a kind of stew made of potatoes, sour apples, some sweet apples and some pears, all cooked together. Served with black pudding or sausages and sometimes a bit of bacon for the salty accent. '

'But why this name?'

'Well, the apples and pears contain a lot of liquid, so it stays very hot for a long time and when you don't take care, you could easily burn your palate if you aren't patient enough to let it cool down a bit. It causes lightning in your mouth, so to speak.'

'It is delicious', Morwenna exclaimed, tasting the odd combination of potatoes and apple. She quickly made a picture of the beautiful dishes. 'So much to tell to All', she sighed.

They all enjoyed their food really well. James had a wonderful evening too, getting full attention from everyone when it was their turn to have him sit on their lap. Edwin was clearly used to have small children around and Peter simply was a natural. In no time he made James giggle by showing him funny faces.

The rest of the dinner went on uneventfully and so did the ride back to the hotel.

'Mr. de Vries, my wife and Morwenna wish to go shopping tomorrow and maybe visit a museum. But I don't want them to take the metro. Too full of germs and I don't want to expose James to that. Are you available, can you drive them to the city center or wherever they wish to go?'

'Of course Dr. Ellingham, it will be my pleasure and thank you for the delicious dinner, it was great!'

'Good, fine, she'll meet you here tomorrow at ten then, goodnight, Mr. de Vries'.

Martin quickly went after Morwenna, who was waiting at the elevator. There Morwenna handed him James who was sound asleep. Louisa hadn't arrived yet, so Martin lit some lights in the room and quickly prepared James for bed. The boy didn't even wake up. With a short kiss on his forehead, Martin tucked his son in and went to the bathroom to ge himself ready for bed.

When he came out of the bathroom, Louisa arrived and came towards her husband, embracing him firmly.

'Thank you for the wonderful evening Martin. It was a real surprise to see Peter Cronk again'. She kissed him on his cheek and then headed quickly to take her turn in the bathroom.

Martin was lying in bed and reading a BMJ, when Louisa came out of the bathroom and settled down next to him. Martin put his BMJ aside and turned off the lights. Louisa cuddled close to him and he put his arm around her waist, kissing her on top of her hair.

'Martin…'

'Hmm?'

'Why were you nervous, when Peter spoke about the Foundation that's behind his scholarship?'

Martin was glad that the room was dark, since he felt his cheeks turning purple.

'Uhhh'

'Come on spill it, Martin!'

'Look Louisa, when I was a surgeon, I earned a lot of money and had nothing to spend it on. Even during the first years in Portwenn, I had plenty opportunity to save money. Until my father ruined the life of Joan when he claimed his share of the farm, my capital increased substantially every year. My youth was awful … from an emotional and social point of view… but I never lacked anything material. My parents paid everything for me, first class clothes and shoes, the expensive boarding school, my study, everything. But I knew right from the beginning, that there are children in the world that are very talented, but that will never be able to pay for an expensive medical, technical, or any other study. So one night, after I had carried out a procedure on a very bright girl, whose parents were so poor that they weren't even able to bring her a night gown, I decided to do something for them. So I created a foundation. One student at the time can benefit of it.'

'Peter!'

'Yes. Peter benefits of too. He deserves it, he is brilliant. And don't worry, for James' study, I opened a dedicated savings account. Thanks to your share in the costs of our household, that account really grows well every month. Most of the former beneficiaries refund the foundation as well, so after Peter, there will be enough money for another young talent, I hope.'

'Oh Martin…my sweet, generous man… What to think of all those villagers who think you're a penny pincher!'

'What!'

Louisa chuckled and quickly covered his mouth with her hand. 'Shush, Martin, you'll wake up James, Morwenna and the rest of the hotel guests shouting like that. Now let me generously thank you thank you for this… '

She took away her hand and kissed him soundly. This time, Martin didn't protest at all…

To be continued