And by home I mean back to London. After being home in the States. Ah, the divided loyalties of an expat.
There are certain things you fantasize about when you prepare to spend time in your country-of-origin. Visiting friends, spending time with family, eating at favorite restaurants, shopping, seeing if anything changed while you were gone. My fantasies focused on eating. No surprise there. Darling daughter and I made a list whilst (I love using that word) we were on the flight from hell:
My/our list:
Eat a cheeseburger at Shady Glen.
Enjoy a pie at Pepe’s in New Haven
Eat a hot dog loaded with sweet relish and yellow mustard. Anywhere.
Order a gigantic steak
Have a chocolate milkshake at Shake Shack
Endless cups of strong, hot coffee
Order a Ride The Wild Donkey, Roll of Milk and Honey and a Tokyo Fro at Miya’s
I know my food list is very American, but you miss what you miss and the UK comes up short for burgers, hot dogs and pizza and shakes. Now that I re-read my list, I’m kind of embarrassed. Eh. If you’ve been to any of the places on my list, your list would be exactly the same. If you haven’t been, I suggest you go. Even better? Call me and I’ll go with you.
We also came Stateside with a shopping list and an empty suitcase. My list involved shoes of many varieties…crossfit shoes, olympic weightlifting shoes, flat shoes, vegas shoes, sparkly shoes…you get the idea. It sounds insane, but shoes in half-sizes are almost impossible to find in the UK. I don’t know why! Maybe I have mutant feet, but I’m not walking around with my toes curled in a shoe a half-size too small or flop around in a shoe one half-size too big. I wish someone could explain how the Brits do it. Do they all have regulation sized feet? Anyway, lots of shoes. We also had to buy king sized sheets (also not in the UK…who knew?), teeth whitening strips and,clearly, many other things based on the sizeable to-be-packed pile in the hotel room. I hope customs isn’t reading this..
and I hope I can fit everything in the suitcases for the return trip. Wish me luck!
What do you miss when you are away from wherever you call home?
Miya’s Miso soup is really good too! They make a new one almost every season.
My ritual is always: get off plane, get luggage, get to where I’m staying, shower, change, Shack Burger and Shake. If I don’t get a really good burger at the earliest opportunity, I’m insufferable for the whole visit.
I like the way you think! I’ll have to re-evaluate my post-flight rituals
Thanks for reading!
Hi M, Love your blog. Pepe’s pizza!!! There was a time when we lived in Vermont that everyone who traveled down New Haven way was required to bring back a pizza from Pepe’s! They can prepare one specially for travelling, half-baked so it doesn’t become overly done when you heat it up at home. Oh that was a long time ago..
Also, FIY king sheets are ‘superking’ in the UK, although for some reason the fitted sheets don’t quite fit. Are we surprised?
Really? I didn’t know they’d pack a “pie” to travel. Do you think I could get one through security next time? And as for the sheets
we brought our own bed and sheets but the moving company…ah,well. You know how that story goes. Thanks for reading!