Mission: Figs

You can call me anal retentive, obsessive compulsive, or a control freak but I am an organized traveler. My friends laugh at the spreadsheets I compile that include hotel reservations, flight and other transportation details, restaurant bookings, organized tours, contact details, and etc. all organized by date, location, time and whatever else I can fit into a pivot table. Knowing that this is truly who I am, I have no idea how my flatmate Erin convinced me to go on a "by the seat of your pants" trip to Montenegro.

Erin is a citizen of the world who is used to roughing it without housekeeping, room service, or even indoor plumbing. It also helps that she's a flight attendant so she can hop on a plane to anywhere at anytime. To continue the birthday month celebrations (her's and mine) we opened up a map and looked for a spot that offered warm weather, would be fairly easy to get to, allow us to sit by the beach/pool all day, and would be a new place to experience on a low budget. We determined Herceg Novi, Montenegro would be it. I was really excited about this choice since I haven't been able to get to Eastern Europe since I moved so this would be a completely new experience. Montenegro is located in the south of the Adriatic Sea and is part of the former Yugoslavia. It is borded by Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovinia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania.

Many parts of Eastern Europe have not advanced very far since they were pilaged by war after war so getting to Montenegro proved more difficult that I expected. I flew from London to Vienna, Vienna to Dubrovnik, and then took an hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Herceg Novi. All the while I didn't know exactly when and how often the bus ran, where I would sleep, or where eventually I would meet Erin. Somehow everything worked out and when my bus turned into the Herceg Novi bus station, Erin was sitting there waiting for me. I should admit that I was a total wimp compared to Erin who flew from London to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Belgrade, a ten-hour overnight train ride from Belgrade to Podgorica with loud obnoxious boys, and a three-hour bus ride from Padgorica to Herceg Novi. Along the way she slept in a park and rented a room in a stranger's house.

Montenegro was definitely worth the trek though. It's toursim industry is just built up enough to provide some local activities but hasn't been completely spoilt by travelers from the United States, England, Germany or other western countries expecting to see fish and chips and sausage on the local menus. The locals were actually quite surprised to see a couple American girls running around since mainly the country is visited by tourists from Russia. The yet to happen influx of western tourists has also managed to keep prices quite low with cocktails ranging around 2-3 Euros. We were actually able to take an eight-hour boat trip that included lunch and two siteseeing stops for only 20 Euros. In Italy or France it would have easily cost 80-100 Euros.

We only had a few days but we made the most of our time before being caught in a torrential monsoon at the end. On this trip Erin discovered the taste of fresh figs in the local market for the first time. So when we stopped in the town of Dobrota on our boat tour and happened to spot some fig trees, we knew what we had to do. It was Mission: Figs (excuse the pun). I would spot out the figs in the trees and Erin would climb them like a monkey to secure our prize. It was pretty hilarious except for the fact that we were likely stealing figs from the consecrated grounds of a monastery. We didn't feel so bad later when two Russian women from our boat trip saw our feast and revealed the mandarins they had picked from some trees behind us.

Three Decades Older but None the Wiser

Last week I turned 30. Yes folks, I admitted to turning 30. It wasn't quite as painful or tragic as I expected. On the actual day it sort of just came and went. Leading up to it though was quite an experience. Awhile ago I decided that I wanted to celebrate my "dirty 30" surrounded by my closest friends. Not a wild and crazy party, but just a get together somewhere fun, interesting, and relaxing. I wanted to rent a house with a swimming pool and hot tub in a warm climate. I also wanted somewhere that could accommodate a large group of people with an open kitchen for cooking and hanging out. Finding a house that met this description wasn't so difficult, it was the city that I struggled with. I started out looking for houses in the Hamptons but didn't have much luck finding decent houses under $10,000 for Labor Day Weekend. The Hamptons/New York City would also be challenging to travel to for just a long weekend. It would also likely mean that I would neither have the time nor the energy to see my friends and family in the San Francisco Bay Area afterwards. Then my thoughts drifted closer to London with the options of a house in Greece, Tuscany, or the South of France. Obviously all of these choices would be even more difficult for my friends in the San Francisco Bay Area to join me especially since a few had already visited me in January.

After some more thought and discussion, Sedona, AZ dawned on me. I'd always heard great things about this area with it's red rock landscape and tranquil relaxing setting. Between work stress, family woes, boyfriend/husband/lack-there-of struggles we all needed a place where we could relax, do nothing, and not feel guilty about it. Sedona provided the perfect setting to get away from everything and hide out for a few quiet days. It is only a two-hour drive from Phoenix airport and flying to Phoenix is relatively inexpensive from any destination in the US. At first people said I should go wherever I wanted to regardless of how hard it would be for others to come. But in the end I decided that I've traveled to so many places already, I really just wanted to be with my friends and my sister.

I got on the internet immediately to start scouting for houses and I found this reasonably priced gem on the west side of the city. It offered a huge pool, large hot tub, sleeping room for 12, jaccuzzi, 2.5 acres of land to make all the noise we wanted, but most importantly, this view:

From Sedona_30th_Bday_2008_Day1

After securing the house I looked up a few things to do in Sedona and two things came up consistently, the Pink Jeep Tour Company and spa treatments. So I booked us in for a wild ride on the Broken Arrow Trail followed by a relaxing afternoon of facials, massages, and pedicures the next day. After the rough and tumble bumpy ride with 50 degree decents, we needed the massages. I didn't want to have too many scheduled activities since this was meant to be entirely relaxation time so I left the rest of the time open. We ended up spending lots of time by the pool and in the hot tub (I have the tan lines to prove it). The first night we sat out in the hot tub after dinner and just looked at the stars. It was amazing to see the Milky Way and shooting stars all around us. Also, I quickly found out that when you're in a house with 9 girls/women (nearly all of whom can cook) you spend a lot of time eating. Some people were up at 5:30am making breakfast! My great friends Maggs and Bernice were also able to supply enough wine and spirits to make sure we were never thirsty either.

I really couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration. I was surrounded by people I care about and who also care about me. We had tons of laughs and created cherished memories. Just for that, I'd turn 30 all over again.

I know there are a lot of pictures, but with at least 5 cameras snapping away at once, what else would you expect?

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Side note:

I created this blog to keep my family and friends up-to-date on my activities abroad and never expected anyone outside of my circle to be interested in it. I just recently found out though that Kathy of "Have Suitcase - Will Travel" recommended my blog during Blog Day 2008. That's really cool! Kathy is a transplant from England to California (my opposite twin) so check out her blog if you get a chance.

Open Season

The birthday season has officially been kicked off. I was back in the office for one day this morning and my work colleagues had a great surprise in store for me. My cube was decked out with banners and confetti and a birthday lunch was on the agenda at our staff meeting. At the end of staff they even surprised me with this:

This was followed by a great basket of goodies in the flat from my great flatmate Erin. She packaged my favorite British treat (Pimms) along with all the fixin's that go with it in a cute little basket on the kitchen counter. I even got a package from the US on my desk as well.

It was definitely a great way to get things started and this weekend I'll get to spend the big day with a bunch of my girlfriends.

British Summer with Diana Krall

Tonight my friend Tonya, her boyfriend Thomas, and I braved the British summer to attend a picnic concert featuring Diana Krall. Tonya is a huge fan of Diana Krall and I enjoy her music as well. We'd been looking forward to this concert for awhile but staying true to the British summer, it rained all day. The picnic concert was at the gardens of the Kenwood House which is one of the many historic estates in London. When we arrrived it stayed dry long enough for us to have a short picnic and then it proceeded to pour down like cats and dogs. The rain continued to fall in buckets throughout the opening act (which wasn't memorable enough to mention here). Pools of rain kept falling off the dome covering the stage as well. Finally right before Diana Krall came out the rain finally stopped and it stayed dry nearly throughout the entire concert. She appreciated everyone being there and joked about the weather since she comes from British Columbia where it rains all of the time. At one point her husband, Elvis Costello, came on stage for a brief cameo. Since they hadn't seen each other for five weeks, Diana Krall excused herself for a moment to go snog her husband.

By the end of the concert we were completely soaked through from head to toe but we had a good time trying to stay under cover.

Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

Today is exactly 1 year since I stepped off that Virgin Atlantic plane onto British soil to call London my new home. I've since decided that people who make big life changing moves like this are either really brave or really naive. I was very much the latter. I decided to move to London on an expat assignment for my company without knowing anything about the office in the UK or anything about my living situation in London. I had visited London before on holiday but only stayed long enough to see a few of the major tourist sites. I still have no idea what made me think I could survive living day-to-day in London though.

I recall arriving on a Sunday afternoon and Ro (the boss) came to meet me at my temporary flat. He left me on my own for a few hours to rest and shower before we met up again to go shopping for essentials and have dinner. I showed up to the office the very next day and met a whole bunch of new faces with very strange accents. I know that in those first few days I didn't know what to make of my new colleagues and they definitely didn't know what to make of me. I think we've come to understand each other a bit better by now though. Over the next couple weeks I had to find a permanent home, buy a car, open a bank account, and learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road. There were definitely days where all I wanted to do was go home and hide under the covers.

Those days seem long gone although it has only been 1 short year. I am still amazed at all of the things that have passed in these last 525,600 minutes. I've lived in 3 different places in London, watched my first ballet, attended 3 operas, hit 200 kpm on the autobahn, went on safari, walked the steps that Jesus walked, and traveled to 3 different continents with countless cities among my visits. It has definitely been an active year.

Since I feel like this should be a reflective post, here are some of my final thoughts on the happenings of this past year.

• Danny was right, moving to a new country really changes you so you need to decide by the 18-24 month mark to stay or go back before neither place feels like home
• I need to make sure I stay open to new possibilities and continue to take risks, that's what has afforded me all the experiences I've had over the past year
• Be it friends, family, or an expat community, you need to have a good base of people to help keep you going when British Telecom refuses to give you a phone line and HSBC won't let you withdraw your own money
• Finally, don't forget to wear sunscreen - especially when you're standing out in 30C weather under direct sunlight waiting 3 and a half hours for Barack Obama to appear on stage
  

Plane Food Review (continued)

Apologies for not finishing up my review of Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food. I was so excited about Berlin and the Obama speech that I decided it could wait so better late than never.

Some people, perhaps most, find Gordon Ramsay to be obnoxious, arrogant, and downright mean. They view him as just another member of the celebrity chef epidemic that has hit our TV channels, magazine racks, and radio waves in recent years. The whole concept of celebrity chefs is a topic that deserves a blog post of its own so I won't go much more into detail about my feelings on the subject here. All I'll say is that I do believe the Mario Batalis, Alice Waters, Anthony Bourdains, even Gordon Ramsays and Marco Pierre Whites of celebrity chef fame have a place in our gastronomic world. Seriously, where would our (mostly meaning Americans) palates be today without Julia Child or M.F.K. Fisher?

Gordon Ramsay - Plane Food

Now back to Plane Food. When I last left you readers I had missed my flight due to silly non-negotiable rules at Heathrow's T5. I wasn't really in the mood for retail therapy so decided this was the perfect chance to try out Plane Food. I wanted to eat there before but really, who wants to come to the airport an extra hour or so early just to eat at a new restaurant? Plane Food keeps in line with the entire T5 concept. The theme here is to offer passengers a swanky, sophisticated, upscale, and glamorous travel experience. As though you would expect Ingrid Bergman decked out in tailored gloves, matching clutch, a wide-brimmed hat strategically covering one eye and her impeccable locks to turn the corner with her porter carrying exotic crocodile skinned luggage behind her. I would say the architects and decorators delivered on this promise but perhaps not the chefs.

The food is supposed to be typical Ramsay style of traditional British fare at its best but he'll have to explain to me someday how croque madame and salmon ceviche are traditional British. To ensure its success, Ramsay brought in Stuart Gillies from his Boxwood Cafe property to run the kitchen. When the manager informed me of this I should have known what to expect from the food right then and there. I've only been to Boxwood Cafe once, but my opinion of it was good, not great, and definitely not worth the price. Plane Food was no different. I started with a small portion of the English beetroot salad including Fourme d’Ambert cheese, hazelnuts and green beans (£8). If you've ever watched an episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, you'll know that this simple crowd-pleaser is something he tends to feature on menus. It was just that, simple and pleasing. I followed this with a small portion of the celeriac risotto with peas, pine nuts and lemon (£8). This was much more impressive than my starter and brought the meal back up to a nearly inspiring point. The celeriac was blended through the sauce along with perfectly cooked chunks mixed into the rice. The English peas were extremely bright and fresh and popped when I bit down. The rice itself also had the perfect texture for risotto, smooth and creamy with just a little bite and pine nuts to add that final crunch. Finally the sprinkling of lemon zest really made this dish bright and fresh. I really lingered over this plate. I almost passed on dessert but finished with the special dessert of the day since I figured it was the least I deserved for my troubles. And it was the special so how could I resist? The macerated strawberries with mint on a meringue with clotted cream (£6) was again another excellent example of great texture in a dish with the soft sweet strawberries on the crunchy meringue. I was worried the clotted cream would be too heavy but the overall combination of flavors and textures blended very well into a dessert that was refreshing, not too sweet, and just enough to be satisfying and not sickening.

I do applaud Ramsay (and Stuart Gillies) for staying true to his belief in fresh high-quality ingredients, although several items definitely were not sourced locally (e.g. San Daniele prosciutto). The food is solid and tasty. As I alluded to previously, the overall experience was pleasing but not impressive especially for the price (particularly since I wasn't expensing this). If you've missed your flight and have some time to kill by treating yourself to a nice meal, then I would give Plane Food a try. For myself, I will likely be sticking to the free food, alcohol, and wifi in the T5 British Airways lounge.

The Damage

1 small bottle sparking water £1.85
1 glass Albarino wine £7.00
beetroot salad £8.00 (small)
celeriac risotto £8.00 (small)
strawberry/meringue dessert £6.00

12.5% service charge £3.86

Total = £34.71

Overall rating:



2.5 (out of 5 tube stops)

Ambience: According to the website, the architects "have crafted aerodynamic lines to conjure up shapes associated with flying". My take was that it's a beautiful, open, and bright space perfect for watching the world (or planes) go by. The decor was a throwback to the art deco style of the 1920's and 1930's where inspiration came from "modern" aviation. This period is also referred to as the golden age of flight (for the western world).

Drinks: I struggled with the wines by the glass list and ended up with an innocuous Spanish Albarino. Like the food, it went well with my meal but wasn't impressive. Sitting across from the bar I could see that they do offer an extensive list of spirits (some I've been challenged to find elsewhere in the UK) along with the somewhat short wine list.

Price range: £££ (out of ££££)

Reservations: They do offer reservations if you provide your flight number and departure time. However, the restaurant was about 20% full when I was there for lunch on a Monday and I would guess their capacity is for 50-75 persons. Also back to my previous comment, I don't know how many people would really take time out to plan and arrive at the airport extra early just to eat here.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Like Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and Bush senior did before him, Barack Obama addressed the people of Berlin, nay the citizens of Germany and the world at large, in front of one of their beloved monuments yesterday and I was able to be there to watch it live. But wait a second, Obama isn't president yet? Well apparently that was/is the major controversy surrounding Senator Barack Obama's (the gentleman from Illinois) tour of the Middle East and Europe. It's being questioned why a non-head of state should be parading around Europe during his presidential campaign speaking about policies and treaties as though he were already elected. It has been compared to the idea of a German chancellor speaking in front of the Washington Monument.

I wasn't knowledgeable about any of this until about two days ago so I have no clear views on the subject at all. I just happened to be in Berlin for work reasons and after some long reflection, decided I should stay an extra night and watch Obama speak to the crowd of 200,000 people gathered at Siegessäule (Victory Column). I figured I don't get many chances to experience something like this so what the heck. The very site where he gave his speech was extremely controversial though in the days leading up to the event. Obama originally wanted to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate which has become the symbol for the reunification of Germany, however, only true heads-of-state have spoken on this symbolic site. Obama and his team finally gave in and moved the site to the Siegessäule (Victory Column) which is another treasured monument and is in direct line of sight to the Brandenburg Gate. This gave Obama an opportunity to still have his pictures taken with the Brandenburg Gate in the background.

So all controversy aside it was a really amazing experience that was completely surreal. The speech itself was a bit of the pageant queen variety where Obama broadly spoke about the hot topics of the day such as the suffering in Darfur, the AIDS epidemic, global warming, and so on with no great detail or plans to address them. I did appreciate this portion of his speech:

"Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?"

Although it was no "Ich bin ein Berliner" or "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!".

All in all I was just amazed to think that I was here in Berlin watching a serious contender for President of the United States give a poignant and charismatic speech standing only ~50 feet away from me. As a bonus I also had a short chat with Christiane Amanpour (CNN's emmy award winning chief international correspondent) who is/was covering the Berlin and Paris portions of Obama's trip.

The rest of Berlin was quite beautiful to see as well. I had my very own tour guide (Chief) show me all the major sites. Not only did Chief know the layout of Berlin, he was also very up to date on the political front and explained the whole Obama controversy to me so I was very lucky to have him around. Roaming around Berlin we sat on the grass in front of the Reichstag, winded our way through the Tiergarten, took pictures of the polizei in front of the Schloss Bellevue and were able to check out the nightlife in Kreuzberg (where we discovered a nut bar) and Mitte. These two neighborhoods reminded me very much of the Mission District and The Marina in San Francisco, respectively. On top of that we had some fanstastic food that included Bavarian pretzels, ice cream, and the best Vietnamese food I've had in Europe so far. Chief still owes me a ride on a water taxi down the Spree River though.