One of the best things about collecting Lord of the Rings is the opportunity to meet up with other collectors.

Earlier this month, we went on a short vacation to The Netherlands. Because we were renting a spacious houseboat in Amsterdam, I emailed my friend Julie Dickinson in Berlin, and told her to ditch the kids and come visit for a while. To my pleasant surprise, she agreed, a snowstorm of emails ensued, and we spent a couple of enjoyable days together.

Julie is the fine eBayer and Collector who goes by the ID of MIddleEarthCharms (tinyurl.com/3978ql ). We have emailed back and forth for years, and roomed together at the German www.ringcon.de fan convention a couple of years ago.

Now, if you've ever been around LOTR collectors, you know that when we get together, we can talk without stop. Funny that. Even if we've never met, there's just this instant "oh yeah!" connection.

We have to cover all the ground, discuss all the various collectors we know, who's gotten what, what neat new things have shown up, what things we remember fondly that don't show up at all any more, and so on. Before you know it, hours have passed. I remember standing behind a potted palm at RingCon with Julie and Peter (various IDs) and realizing we'd missed a session or two by the time we'd stopped to catch our breath. At that point we blew it off, and went and had lunch with Birgitte (OxfordsFinest), and darned if the same thing didn't happen.

Well, Julie and I get  to talking, and the next thing I know, I hear a crabby, jetlagged voice from the other end of the boat, hollering, "Would you two shut up so I can get some sleep?!"  Having endured enough slumber parties for this particular complainer over the years, I figured I had earned it, ignored the voice and we kept at it for another hour or two.

The next day, we all took the train from Amsterdam to Leiden, which is about twenty minutes or so away, but a world apart. Leiden is a beautiful town. The train station is fairly large, and very modern, but a block down the street, you reach a beautiful canal, and the whole flavor of the town changes.

You can stand on the wide arched bridge, and look down a long swath of grass (studded with tiny white flowers that looked amazingly like what I imagine Elanor to look like) crowned by a beautiful restored windmill at the other end.

We followed the path and sat down and had a picnic in the grass under the mill, enjoying a couple of loaves of fresh bread, some Dutch cheese, and a packet of chocolate digestive biscuits, for which I have an terrible weakness. Several families had nice boats, including a classic wooden motorboat, and were slowly gliding down the canal. We and our new best friends, a whole flock of hungry ducks, thoroughly enjoyed our picnic.

But, we our real reason for visiting Leiden was to visit Rene´ van Rossenberg, and his world reknowned www.tolkienshop.com shop. Julie and I met Rene´ at RingCon, where he was a dealer.  He is also a Tolkien and Tolkiena scholar, expert, and respected lecturer. I've been lucky enough to attend a couple of his brilliant lectures. If ever you have the chance, don't miss him. I believe you could ask the man what Tolkien ate for dinner on, say, August 16th, 1948, and Rene´ would wrack his voluminous memory and tell you what was on the menu.

After the most idyllic bus ride you can ever imagine, we found his small shop on a side street, facing a (you guessed it) tranquil canal. We were a bit lost, but never fear. Rene´ has a most recognizable landmark parked right outside his door......his minivan, which is covered in custom airbrushed movie pictures, including beautiful pictures of Legolas, Aragorn, and a very large, very sinister glowing Eye.

Rene´ told us a great story about driving down the road one day, and overtaking a schoolbus. All the kids went to one side of the bus to see, and were waving and shouting at him, til the bus driver noticed the bus was listing dangerously to one side, and waved him to pass.

Anyway, Rene´ has the ideal situation for a LOTR collection/shop. His shop is very, very narrow, but reallly long. Both sides are lined with bookcases,and the most astounding collection of Tolkien in print that you have ever seen. Every book you can imagine, by or about Tolkien, is represented, along with a large selection of movie memorabilia. But the books!  And where he can keep a close eye on them is his treasured collection of personal books and other rare memorabilia. Rene´ has a knack for patiently nosing out the rarities, and I thank my lucky stars he is a book collector and not so much a memorabilia collector, because I would hate to have to compete with that kind of dedicated, relentless collector.

We spent several hours poring over every item in his shop, showering him with questions, and generally making nuisances of ourselves, and boring my poor husband and daughter to tears. Then we all went out to dinner together at a very good Indian restaraunt, where they finally had to chase the lot of us out at closing time. At least, I think that's what they were saying!

I regret we didn't have more time to talk to Rene´. He's a very interesting and colorful character, especially if you get him off and running on the subject of Tolkien. Maybe another time. I love Holland and will go back. Soon, I hope.

Afterwards, we walked back to the bus station in a light, chill drizzle, which I think is the best way to enjoy Leiden at night. The town hall is beautiful at night, with the lights glowing and sparkling in the rain. Slightly mysterious, very picturesque, accessibly ancient.

And thus endst the saga of the latest LOTR sortie.