Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Holiday booked. Negotiations not that complex this time, just four of us going and all fairly laid back. The complications largely involved finding somewhere Central America-ish that didn’t require flying for 20 hours, transferring onto a mule train and then scaling the side of a mountain to get to. We’ve only got a week off – otherwise would definitely get on the mule train.

Was that a song by the O’Jays?

Anyway, its very exciting. Looking forward to Mojitos, Castro… everything. I don’t really know what to expect – imagine some of the more ‘developing nation’** aspects will remind me of some of the crappier bits of Malaysia, so there’ll be some familiarity. But culturally I suspect it’ll be very, very unlike anything I’ve ever encountered before and I’m v. excited as a consequence.

What should I do when I’m out there other than:

1) Say ‘hi’ to the Castros
2) Drink lots of rum
3) Smoke some cigars

Suggestions in the comments if you know anything about it, please, and will be greatly appreciated. I may even bring back gifts for people who tell me of interesting things to do out there.

** is that the PC thing to say? I don’t know anymore.

So, New York was… amazing. Everything from the movies, and TV, that I’ve seen was… true. Moreso. Better. It was like London, stretched – and even more diverse and exciting, if that’s possible.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trading cities. The pace of life in NYC was… hectic – more than I’d be prepared to deal with in the long term, I suspect. But it was just… unreal. I was not the only person going around saying “it’s like being in a movie,” — heard at least two passers-by say almost exactly the same words in Times Square. Which is understandable; that’s like Leicester Square on speed.

So, my pivotal NY experiences in a nutshell:

Having slices of American scale pizza
Drinking root beer
Seeing broadway, Madison Square, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, the Empire State building, and more
The walk / don’t walk experience
Comic book geeks on the street (!!!)
HOT DOGS. Oh yeah.
Tipping (man, I hate working it out… much more of a science than here)
New York cab journeys
Chinese takeaway, complete with egg roll (so cheap!)
The NYC retail experience (a world away from the service we get in London – much better!)
Learning what ‘uptown’ and ‘downtown’ meant
Central Park in the sunshine, on the water
Watching movies and photoshoots happening
Having a bagel near Tiffany’s
The biggest ever plate of cheese in Mexican restaraunt
Seeing a broadway musical (oddly, Sweeney Todd, set in London)
Riding the (so much better than London underground its not funny) Subway

Having problems with my photo plugin for WordPress, so please checkout the photoset if you’re keen to see more…

Ok, so I know I probably enjoy food a little too much, but a little on the international cuisine I’ve been enjoying of late.

In Sardinia I had my first truly Italian pasta – spag bol like I’ve never had before – it tasted *amazing*, despite minimal meat – and think I’ve got the knack down on how to get the pasta to taste right (lots of salt in the water…). Sheila’s also acquired some good sauce making skills, so hopefully the pair of talents will result in some good pasta at Casa David.

I also had a steak wrapped in bacon, which reminded me how good things wrapped in bacon are, some very-rosemary-ed up Roast Beef (a local specialty – also v. tasty) and some really interesting wild boar gnochetti. There was more, but those are the ones that stand out. For those curious – wild boar tasts a bit like grainy, salty beef, horse tastes like pungent, salty, beef, and donkey (apparently) tastes like braising steak. Salt seems a dominant theme in Sardinian cuisine.

In America, I had the culinary experience my unhealthy adult life has bred me for: pizzas the size of a BICYCLE WHEEL (only ever had a slice per sitting but they were *so* good and have set a new standard for me), chinese takeaway that was incredibly cheap and reminded me so much of Seinfeld I expected Kramer to walk in and clear out my fridge (and I had an egg roll – something they *always* order on American TV programmes), the hot dogs like they look in the movies (great!) and a Mexican restaraunt Gem and I went to served us a dish of baked cheese and sausages that tasted outstanding. And I use the word advisedly. Key West added some amazing prawns (‘shrimp’) and possibly the best burger I’ve ever eaten (photo below).

It has been a fattening few weeks. But deliciously so :).

I’ve decided that a ‘what I did on my holidays’ type post would be slightly, well, like a 10th grade school assignment, so thought it’d be worth giving some brief impressions, interspersed with some nice photography. Starting with (click click) Sardi-nia. America will take longer for me to do – a lot more photos, and a lot more things going on, but will hopefully be up soon!

Sardinia was my first holiday away with a group of friends with the intent of doing nothing in, well, ever. Was a completely new experience and the sun and food in Sardinia were a great accompaniment; we were in a private villa with a pool in a bizarre collective of sunbaked pink villas on a hill outside the village of Stintino, on the northwest coast of the island. The weather was astonishing; crystal blue skies, strong (sometimes overly strong!) cooling breezes, the crisp, cold mediterrenean (my first time in that particular sea) and lots of time was spent relaxing, eating, playing bizarre games and having great chat. Oh, and drinking a lot and throwing and/or kicking balls around too. And there were more… exiciting moments.

The full photoset is where it usually is, but here are a selection of images that kind of capture the spirit:

And here’s a list of the the different types of animal we ate whilst there — n.b. this may not be comprehensive!!

horse
wild boar
lamb
beef
pig (bacon & ham)
donkey
crayfish
prawns
squid
swordfish

…not to mention at least 3 types of cheese. Not too shabby, eh? Was a great trip with a great group of people, and I’m really looking forward to my next visit to the Med. I can say that if the first thing you have to do, having been travelling since about 3am, is descend and then climb 656 steps in blazing heat whilst wearing a rugby shirt (they told me it was quite cold in the evenings, so I came prepared!) — well, then, you might sweat some.