Night Tourist...

Flashback 1977... the sounds of disco and the harmonies of the BeeGees singing Night Fever... Night Fever..., are you singing with me?  Now change the words:

Night Tourist... Night Tourist ...

Then I get we know how to do it.
Gimme that Night Tourist we know how to show it.
Here I am prayin' for this moment to last
Livin' on the music to fine born on the wind.
Makin' it mine.
Night Tourist

Well that would be me!  I get in a taxi now a few minutes after first light of morn and return to the hotel with only about 1 hour of useable light for photos at night.  Don't you hate it when your job gets in the way of fun?   Well you got to dance with the one who brought you and honestly the weather has been abnormaly warm 5 deg C and raining most all the time.  So I am a Night Tourist... Night Tourist...

Looking for a change of scenery after work today I went to the train station picked a town from the map and off I went.  In my haste I jumped on the first train to my destination which turned out to be a local and went on the secondary route that caused me to change trains.  However on the positive side of things I got to go an unplanned town called Zutphen, and I also got to meet a very interesting man on my ride.  I think initially he thought I was nuts to get on a train on a cold rainy night after picking a town off the map that I knew nothing about for dinner and walk.   The town's name is Deventer and about 45 minutes from Hengelo.  (On the express train)

No reason to lug the big camera, so armed only with my point and shoot off  I went to explore this mystery destination in the dark and rain. (I have only unpacked the big camera once since I have been here)  Deventer Absolutely Beautiful - Even in the Rain.  Walking at night allows one to see things in a whole different perspective.  Without being called a peeking "Tom" (pun intended),  there are a series of small brick streets in Deventer that link the town
square and a very large church.  The Dutch love light, and their homes are have very large windows to bring the outside into their living spaces. This also allows, a Night Tourist... Night Tourist, like me to have a glimpse of not only the architecture of homes 300 years old, but the decorations inside.  Here again being wise beyond my years, I avoid picture snapping of the inside of peoples' homes - pretty smart you think?

Hunger and cold were begining to set in.  The restaurant search was underway.  Finding a little hole in the wall with a name of Food & Joy, I could not resisit.   Because food and wine are important to me I have become efficent at reading Dutch menus.  The board outside the restaurant listed this for the night's special.  (Let me impress you with this new found knowledge) 

Tonight's special is  Boar and Deer Parts, with a red cabbage, mash potatoes with a red wine sauce.  It was a must have!  The wine selection, as printed on the menu, was Red or White.  I opted for red which turned out to be a Merlot from Chile. (Red Wine Sauce - Duh!)   Very Nice and went well the dinner.  And the had some black bread that was to die for that was served with green olive tampanade and garlic butter.  The deer and boar could be cut with a fork and melted in your mouth.  The red wine sauce was great on the meat, but when put on the potatoes - yum yum yum! And the red cabbage so different that it is hard to describe, but it was cooked with a lot of spices (cinnamon being the prime) and was served warm, but not hot.  What a nice healthy side dish that added great color to match the wine. 

Dessert, I almost forgot...  I asked for the only thing I could not decode on the menu.  It turned out to be french toast, a hint of syrup, vanilla ice cream and star fruit. Not sure what the bread was fried in, but it was
just not butter and egg.   Now I have had fresh star fruit in the rain forest of Puerto Rico and this was just as good.  Only my wife can relate to that, because what we get normally is bitter and hard - what we had in
PR was magic.  A piece of fruit, french toast, and ice cream was a culinary explosion in your mouth.  Dinner was great - dessert was excellent.

Stuffed from dinner, it was time for another walk.  Deventer was coming  alive as I walked off my dinner.   The young people gathered in the shopping district, parents hustling small childern here or there, and long distance commuters walked home with their umbrellas and brief cases.  I returned to the train (with the free internet) read some email and headed back to Hengelo.  Humming Night Tourist... Night Tourist... 

So what did I learn about Deventer:
- It is where they filmed the movie "A Bridge Too Far"  Not in Arnhem where the actual Bridge is located.

- Every year they do a live play of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" - The audience walks from location to location through the city.  - Sounds Fun... And Cold

-  It is where the Albert Schwietzer Foundation was for years and there is a big bronze statue in the center city.

-  The center city is called "The Brink" and a whole bunch of stuff has happended there over the years...


For the record: I hate Disco - Did then - Do now!   But I heard the song in the lobby of the hotel as I was leaving for the train station and it stuck in my head.... God, please make it go away when I go to bed.  May I wake to sounds of Pink Floyd or Santana...  Please Make it Stop... Night Tourist.... Ahhhhh