Hallo zusammen,
Es war ein schöner Nachmittag! Unten könnt ihr mein Bericht lesen. Und wir möchten unsere Nachbarn zum nächsten Mal einladen (in drei Monaten, erwarten wir)!
Apologies that it's in English! I'm an American living in the Netherlands and my German is terrible! 
(I usually translate everything)
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It was a fun and interesting meetup on Monday, with some amazing pens to try! And it was wonderful to be able to finally meet some other local fountain pen enthusiasts in real life rather than just on the interwebs.
A small group of us got together in Utrecht for this first meetup. Our theme for the afternoon was a pen ‘tasting’ – like a wine tasting but different. You get the idea. Each of us brought along a selection of pens for everyone to try out. (It was also just in time to prepare our shopping lists for the Dutch Pen Show this Sunday, June 12th, of course!)
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Photo: The big table being set up for our pen 'tasting'
And boy, oh boy, were there some fantastic pens on the table! We had fun pocket pens by Platinum, Pilot, Sailor, and Schon DSGN to try. There were assorted models of the big brands, such as Pelikan, Montblanc, and Sailor, including a beautiful orange and black King of Pens. We also got to try out a Sailor 1911 fude, which I quite liked and even sort of figured out how to use.
(It has gone on my wish list.)
There were giant Rangas and lots of other fun, fancy, and even flexy pens to try, from Aurora to Esterbrook and from Franklin-Christoph to Marlen’s Aleph, plus a few vintage pens. There were (custom) pens from smaller pen makers, and even a couple of self-turned pens to try out. Giants' Pens also brought a big case full of wonderfully colorful pens turned from blanks by Brooks and others to show us. I brought along a 'history of Diplomats in 10 pens' (what else did you expect??) for everyone to try. There was even a Kakimori dip pen – really fun to experiment with.
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Photo: An assortment of pens to 'taste'
The pen that was the biggest surprise for me personally was @Strangebird’s Nakaya Long Cigar. I didn’t think I liked urushi until I got hold of this pen! It’s a long and elegant pen with equidistant cap and barrel. Strangebird says the choice for such a long pen was so that it still felt as long and balanced as if it were posted. The Toki-Tamenuri finish sparkled and glowed in the light, and the color variation at the section and end of the cap are subtle but striking. And, of course, it writes beautifully. (This one is also going on my overloaded wish list.
)
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Photo: Nakaya Long Cigar in Toki-Tamenuri Urushi
All in all, some great pens to play with for an afternoon, while also getting to know other pen enthusiasts! I’d say it was an excellent first meet-up (quite literally for me).
I’m already excited for the next one!
