Food + Bitching about Rome + More Food.
So of course the major thing on the list A Gazillion Reasons Why Rome Can Suck A Bag Of Dicks is that although all of the gnocchi and sauces and Nutella and arancini OHMYGOD THE ARANCINI are all well and good, a girl struggles to find the necessary to make a simple jacket potato.
Or treacle sponge and custard.
Or fish pie.
Or nachos with sour cream and refried beans and guacamole.
I'm just going to go on ahead and change the name of this website to fatbitch.com (TIP: don't type that into your web browser at work.)
When I lived in the States I didn't have this overwhelming desire to cross oceans and rivers and mountains and cities to return home for a weekend just to eat stuff I miss. And I absolutely did not write lists of Eating Stuff I Miss on the bus. But then again, I was probably too busy getting confused over the nickels and dimes and quarters. I'd pay for everything with bills and save the shrapnel for the self-service checkout at Walmart where periodically I'd go and buy a box of Krispy Kremes. It's hard to miss anything when you have a box of doughnuts
Also: you do the same, right? RIGHT? The lists? The doughnuts? THE OBSESSIVE HATEFUL BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MOST THINGS?
On Monday Rome had one of her bi-weekly transport strikes, which sees the bus and metro run only between the commuting hours of 6 and 8.30 a.m. and between 5 and 8 p.m. so people can get to and from work. Which, by the way ROME, is really useful when I finish at 8. REALLY FUCKING USEFUL.
My friend from work also had to be in town half a day before her shift started since neither of us is within walking distance from our job, so we met for lunch in the park except that by park I mean Dog Park and that means we spent a lot of time watching canines poop.
When she asked if I wanted to move on and pop to the store with her, I said yes.
YOU GUYS.
She took me to like, THE BEST STORE EVER and it was huge and dark wood and stacks and stacks of food everywhere BUT REALLY GOOD IMPORTED FOOD. Dairy Milk! Old El Paso! Twinnings! BETTY CROCKER FROSTING IN A TUB!
I loves me some Betty Crocker frosting in a tub.
I asked my friend if she thought anyone would mind if I sat in the corner and had a wank. She laughed. I wasn't kidding. Then I saw Ribena and had a little mini food-gasm right there on the floor. This is so close to my work that I could eat Heinz Baked Beans and salad cream ALL OF THE DAYS.
And that is the story of The Best Day. The absolute Best Fucking Day.
I recently spent around two weeks in Sicily and although I wasn't there long enough to start missing English cuisine, I felt dangerously close after trying packet after packet of Italian biscuits and they just not being the same.
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of an adventure with the bus system too, because I didn't understand where you bought the tickets from. The bus just got into Palermo and five uniformed men with BATS stopped the bus and got on, blocking the exits... they then screamed a lot in Italian (I don't know any Italian) and a lot of people looked terrified and tried to escape. I soon realised they were TICKET INSPECTORS! And of course, I didn't have a ticket. By some stroke of mad luck I managed to get off unscathed while they had their back turned, in some part of the city I didn't know, in a stripy beach towel...
But I loved the arancini! Living in Rome must be great, I am envious! Even better for you now you've found that shop. Ooh, and also - I had the pleasure of reading your dissertation in the library last week. It was so enjoyable to read, and it gave me the confidence boost I needed to get on with my own independent study. So thank you, and well done!
Whenever I go away I like to just eat the 'native' food, I think it's part of the holiday experience, I got really pissed off in Turkey because EVERY plate of food came with chips on the side - reckon they think it's all English people want. (I'm off to Goa for a month in Dec - will be the size of an Indian Elephant time I get back no doubt).
ReplyDeleteBut, if I had to live abroad I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same as you, and not for the main meals - it's the snacky stuff I'd want.
Funny - I'm great at making cakes - made some Halloween cupcakes with my friends 4yr old last week and guess what we had to top them with ?
Yup. Betty Crocker..and yeah we finished the tub.
@Stefanie IT'S IN THE LIBRARY? Calum and I used to joke that when we got our firsts we'd go visit them and take pictures. I thought I was kidding, but... urm. I WANT TO TAKE MY PHOTO WITH MY DISSERTATION IN THE LIBRARY. Sad but true. Also: those FUCKING ticket inspectors. I once travelled without a ticket, got caught, CRIED, and still they fined me. Liem WTF Italy? W.T.F.
ReplyDelete@dirtycowgirl But they don't even do chips properly in other countries. Is so insulting! Also: I'm jelly that you get a month in Goa. I bet it's 100% more efficient than this shit hole. LOVE YOU ROME. Except. Well. Not.