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Written by Stephen Baines
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Tuesday, 21 August 2001 |
Today was a work day. I got up bright and breezy, twice. Once at two in the morning, and once at 6am. Got ready, and headed off for Andover. I was pleasantly surprised that the journey didn't take any longer this morning than it did last night. The weather reminded me of England quite nicely, except the fog and rain were warm, and the air humid.
The training course went well, and the people were warm and welcoming. Once over, I took the car a little way down the road, and did a little light retail therapy, before heading back to the hotel. It's really hit home today that there is a time difference, by the time the course was over, I was whacked. I crawled back to the hotel, flopped for a little while, then decided I'd better get something to eat before I slept. The irony, of course, being now that I have eaten, I don't feel much like sleeping.
For the second day running, I loved the food. For the second day running, I'm afraid I had the Clam Chowder - it was far far too delicious, I had to see if it was repeatable. And it was. For main course I had steak with pan fried scallops. The steak was wonderfully tender, and just on the right side of rare, and bursting with flavour. At first I wasn't quite sure what the second flavour I could taste was, but eventually it struck me that the steak had been dusted with crushed Savory before frying. I'd personally would never have thought of combining steak and savory, but it worked amazingly well. The scallops achieved something that appears near impossible in the UK - beatifully seared and caramalised without being turned to rubber - they were both wonderfully moist, and delicious. Once again, though, I couldn't quite finish it all, and certainly couldn't think of entertaining a desert.
I'm now back at my room, and resting. Pleasantly full, and relaxed, though missing home. |
