Moving Right Along is not Foot-loose OR Fancy-Free

International moves are their own particular kind of stress.

Take for instance THIS VERY MOMENT. It's 5:30 am on Monday and I start the moving process in exactly 48 hours. I am sitting on the balcony in the blue-black morning listening to the ocean crash on the beach, rhythmically counting down the final minutes of my brief summer vacation. My chest is tight with panic even though I know the sun WILL rise, the cat WILL move to his new home today, and I WILL manage to pack my whole life into one suitcase...because that is what needs to happen.

Moving to a new place is always stressful. It's one of those life-moments that people reference when they talk about 'the most stressful life events' (though really, I think the media makes that list a bit longer each year). But moving to a new country, one where the language, driving style, and monetary units are significantly different from what you know ... let's just say, it adds a level of *excitement* to life (and by *excitement* I mean *heart palpitations*).

So why then do I do it?

Because, stress or no stress, living life abroad is the most rewarding, fulfilling, economically sensible thing to do. Because the world is bigger than our back yards and the sooner we all realize that, the better off this planet will be. Because I'm a life-long learner type and I can learn more from living in the world than seeing it through the eyes of Almodovar, Woody Allen, or Ang Lee. Because I love the flavors of travel, the scent of foreign markets in foreign lands, and the feel of textiles that have been hand-made with love and care.

But the moving part, oh the moving part, make no mistake - this part sucks.

**Update: Little Man is installed at my Dad's, merrily exploring his new environs while his new roommate, Inky, hisses and sisses at him; which I'm told he generally ignores. My packing saga will begin in a few hours . . . just after I finish this four shot cappuccino that some woman got all judgy-on me about at Starbucks. LADY I NEED CAFFEINE THIS MORNING! That is all. This time tomorrow I'll be seated with my tray-table stowed taking off to start my new life in Mexico!

Euphemia Haye

Last night, my best friend, my brother, and I ate at Euphemia Haye on Longboat Key in Sarasota.

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh SO GOOD!

There are two restaurants, one downstairs for 'upscale dining' and a much less formal upstairs called the 'Haye Loft'. We ate upstairs where we could enjoy the live jazz music as we ate our meal.

My brother and I got the Prix Fixe menu. He ordered the chef's pate, the lamb shank, and banana cream pie. That lamb shank was falling off the bone with such perfection as cannot be described adequately in words. He kept offering me bites to show off his entree 'win', but I declined as I could taste it just by smell, and because I couldn't tear myself away from my own entree long enough to take a bite of his.

My progression for the evening went like this: Garlic/Sherry snails and mushrooms swimming in awesome garlic-sherriness that was so good I kept dipping bread into the sauce after I'd eaten all the snails. I did force one of my snails on my brother, who I'm always forcing slimy creatures on (in Rome it was Octopus and who knows what other sea creatures), so I kind of wish there had been just a few more of them in the dish - because you should always have enough to eat your fill and share with members of your party who want to sample a snail. Having only just been introduced to snails myself, I now want the world to know how amazing they are; so a few extra snails on every plate, please, chefs of the world! Let's start an escargot revolution!

Anyway, back to the dinner...

Next I had the restaurant's signature Roasted Duck in a seasonal raspberry walnut sauce that was fruity without becoming too sweet. The partially-boned duck with that great crispy cracklin' on the outside was scrumptious and easy to devour...

Seconds after this picture was taken, all that was left

on the plate was the bone.

Finally, the restaurant has this enormous banquette of desserts to choose from. I went with the restaurant's signature Apple-Walnut pie which was very yummy with an amazing crumble crust. The only disappointment was that while I could see the steam coming off the plate where the ice-cream was dripping on to it, the pie itself was cold all the way through. I kind of like my apple pie to scald my mouth and provide that great contrast to the quickly melting ice cream - which is sort of what the waiter promised but didn't deliver.

Of course, that's didn't stop me from destroying this poor little piece of pie (and my blood sugar).

Finally, E didn't order a main; just an appetizer, side dish, and dessert. The side dish - truffle mash potatoes - was so incredible I abandoned my own entree to enjoy it.  The truffle flavor hit the back of my tongue and erupted into a scent that knocked my senses into sweet sweet bliss. (If she's not careful, I might steal her leftovers from the fridge and gobble them down myself!)

Overall, Euphemia Haye delivered an amazing dinner in a great, simple little restaurant on the key. The perfect note after a long day of sunning and swimming.

Florida on a Wednesday

Twenty-two years ago, I met my best friend on a crowded beach in Ocean City, MD. We were 12.

This week we are in Florida, enjoying a completely empty beach all to ourselves. 

Time flies.

(bright, sunshiny morning)

(the birds all lined up, waiting for something...but what?)

(E drags a sun-lounger down an empty beach)

"In The Kingdom of Men", My Thoughts from Page 82

Right now I'm reading In the Kingdom of Men, a book about a woman who moves to Saudi as the wife of an oil worker. The author was on Diane Rehm for an interview last week and I was intrigued by the experiences of the author and her family which inspired the story. I'm about 80 pages in so far (on the dreaded e-reader), and I'm both impressed and offended.

My E-Reader and Me

As soon as I rolled into Baltimore two weeks ago, I patronized the local independent bookstore Atomic Books (who are awesome), and, when I finished all of those books and was stuck in Union Station longer than anticipated, I bought more books to read.

The problem with this book purchasing compulsion is not the expense (having no local library to call my own in my nomadic existence, I spend a large % of my disposable income on books), I love buying books and thumbing through the pages and writing in the margins. I love re-reading part or all of the foodie tomes that have filled my shelves of late, passing on books to my friends, and trading in books at second-hand book shops in Cyprus, Egypt, Austria or wherever else I find them.

The problem with my reading addiction is weight.

Hotels I Like

At last count (i.e. as of April 2012) I have visited 21 countries and, according to Trip Advisor, something like 150 cities; but that's not counting suburbs and villages and all those little places in between.

Anyway, because of all this travel, I often get asked for hotel recommendations when people are venturing forth to the cities I've already traveled to.

I've decided to start a list on this page, not as an advertisement (I'm sure as heck not getting paid for this!), but as a 'friend-to-a-friend' sort of thing. My only readers (except whoever is reading this blog in Russia - HELLO READER IN RUSSIA!) are my friends and family anyway, so I doubt I drive much business to these places. I'll include pictures if I've taken any. Next to each hotel, I will also put the year I stayed there ... because some of these places may have changed dramatically since my last visit!

I'm only going to list hotels that are standouts in the serious of 5 star Luxury to No Star Moldy hotels that I've frequented in my 13 years of world traveling. I'll be honest...I found most of them on booking.com.

You can find a list of hotels by clicking on the tab at the top of the page titled "Hotels I Like".  I don't promise they are all spectacular (some are bigger on charm than splendor), but staying at the hotels on the list made my trip, wherever it was I was traveling, a little bit better.

Wherein I Meet An Ambassador

Last week I was a guest at an educational event at an ambassador's residence in DC, which I know for DC people is all "Oh, I go to those things all the time," but when I was a DC intern, I didn't get to go to these types of soirees. I went to entertainment industry events and, yeah, meeting movie stars is pretty awesome; but meeting an ambassador and talking to him about his meeting movie stars was somehow WAY COOLER. We also talked about cheese.

Leave it to the girl from Baltimore to get an Important Political Official on a topic like cheese. It was my Wallis Simpson moment.

While I'm talking about cheese, I should probably mention that the food at the event was mind-blowing. The first taste I had was my first sampling ever of escargot. It was yummy and unctuous and swimming in a chilled basil frothy soupy thing. So delicious! I also sampled tiny foie gras, tiny creme brulee, tiny tuna tartare with beets, tiny salmon carpaccio, and tiny gazpacho. Best passed hors d'oeuvres service EVER! (I should mention here that spell check does not recognize any of the food words in this paragraph at all, so I apologize for any misspellings).

Anyhow, I know this post should be far more diplomatic and insightful about international relations after hearing the an ambassador speak about diplomacy and international relations, but I really do try to keep politics off this blog...and keep it as much about the food as possible. Truthfully, though, it was an incredibly engaging and interesting experience for me - even beyond the mention of cheese.

I love these little surprises in life, they are what make the adventure all that much more interesting!

Summer Love

How much am I in love with summer produce?

Voila! My dinner:

Mixed greens, sirloin steak, grilled local peaches, sliced American avacado, 

crumbled goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette!

The Land of Non-Dairy Whipped Topping

Tomorrow I will spend the Fourth of July with family (and six dogs) in the oppressive humidity of Florida (at least it's cooler here than in Baltimore!). Mom's making some sort of Shrimp Curry thing that I will probably only pick at because there is a whole pint of JUMBO LUMP CRABMEAT in her fridge with my name on it that I will likely devour within minutes of my arrival to her house (and then I will spend the rest of the afternoon complaining about a tummy ache). This is what America represents to me - food I can eat raw/days old out of the container with no fear of parasites. God bless the FDA.

I've been gorging myself on organic berries of the Straw, Black, and Rasp varieties - smothered in non-dairy whipped topping. I've been eating baby spinach salads like it's 2001. I have a pint of funkily-flavored (in a good way) frozen yogurt in the freezer that I am snacking away on whenever the opportunity presents itself. I am in foodie heaven.

On the pet front, Little Man continues his adjustment to his new environs. He can't go out and lay on the balcony in the shade - the humidity would probably make his hair curl-up and get wet and clumpy, which would be bad. He found a chair that is now 'his chair' for the next few weeks and he's happily napping the days away as he always has everywhere. The cat food available here is a bit fancier than in Egypt (and about 1/3 the cost) so he's also in kitty-foodie heaven.

In just a few days I'll jet up to Baltimore (and possibly to  Philly and NYC) to enjoy the delights of East Coast Cuisine (I will get steamed crabs this year if I have to drive to Smith Island to get them!) and delight in the hugs of my East Coast Friends (who are awesomer than steamed crabs, if that's even possible!).

Ah, America, you sure know how to spoil a girl!