It was a lovely evening of memory and connections ... New Zealanders do that, we're kind of cute actually. There may some truth in the rumour that we all know each other ... there's surely less than 6 degrees of seperation.
It turned out that the woman from Greymouth had a cousin who had married into the same family as my cousin and that her parents had retired to the same tiny village in Canterbury as my uncle and aunt. But of course ... there's only 3/4's of a million of us in the South Island of New Zealand.
I love the connections, and the familiarity that you find in your own people while you're travelling. Both women have lived in Belgium forever.Those Belgians are tricky, they pick up New Zealanders in places like Istanbul, Saudi Arabia and on overland trips that begin in Nepal then bring us all home to the wee country in the heart of Europe.
We drank Belgian beer with our roast lamb and potatoes, mashed carrots and parsnips. There was pavlova and whipped cream with oodles of fruit, a cheese board and French wine, conversation flowed easily and I was home again for a while.
I love finding these little pockets of home ...
8 comments:
Ohhh I'm so pleased for you that you got a shot of kiwi again! That pav looks dreamily delish - I'm drooling!!!
Aye ... every kiwi needs a 'shot of kiwi' every now and again.
The pav looks great but I must confess, that photo was borrowed from google ...
I didn't take the camera last night :) however it was close enough to what we were fed.
Ohh! Sounds like a really good time.
I can taste the pavlova. I make it on occasion.
Hey what's a pavlova? I mean I see it, I think, in the photo (don't I?) but what's under al that lovely stuff?
Sounds like a perfect evening and a well timed taste of home.
And, oh, what I wouldn't give for a meal of roast lamb with carrots and parsnips....and Belgian beer.
Pavlova is a massive meringue with a soft covered in whipped cream and chocolate flake or fruit.
It's very good, New Zealanders invented it and Australians contest that we invented it.
WE INVENTED IT - isn't that right WW?? :) (those blimin' Ozzies ... grrr ...)
Yes, the Ozzies are always stealing things from their little cousins ... lol, they have my two brothers and quite a number of my friends.
Hi belle, an American making pavlova? :) It's that good, isn't it. Gert enjoys it too. Slowly but surely I'm slipping NZ food into his diet to prepare him for the holiday back home ...
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