Sunday, August 12, 2007
Worst travel dining
¶ 10:50 PM San Francisco cowboy bar mistake
Perhaps not as bad as the title makes it sound. Near the end of our trip, we went to some fancy restaurant/lounge that had been recommended. They wanted a $10 cover, and we decided it was too swanky for us. So we got back in the rental and drove around and eventually ended up in some Western-themed joint near that awful Fisherman's Wharf. There was no cover, but the food was not as cheap as it tasted, the music was a nuisance, and I would have paid to stay hungry.
Canard solitaire
As told elsewhere.
McDonald's in New York City
Not a bad dining experience, but it was a rather poor judgment to suggest getting supersized while we were still dating. As I remember it, we couldn't decide on anything else, and there may have been some toilet-related urgency. We don't pass by McDonald's in New York too often, but whenever we do, I get a little reminder of my cheapskate past.
Gouged in Barcelona
Ah, but traveling only got better once we were married. On this trip, I was supposed to make vacation plans for the first time, but I just hit a few websites the day before we left. It didn't help that I packed a bunch of socks and no pants. By the third day we were wandering around wearing beach clothes and unable to find the beach, leading naturally to a fight that evening.
After an awkward dinner, we found an internet shop and booked train tickets to an outlying town for the following day. Still a bit sullen, we walked back up Las Ramblas toward the hotel. We stopped at one of the many cafes and I ordered two Cokes. The waiter brought out two giant jugs, together at least a gallon of cola. On another day that might have been welcome change from the usual half-pint glass with an ice cube or two, but it was after midnight and I just sipped at mine, trying weakly to make conversation. The bill arrived. Later I would regret not having documented the evidence, for a blinding rage prevented me from making a clear note of the amount. I recall it being 22 euros. The waiter had gone into hiding, so I threw what vitriol as I could translate at some employee, who presently brought out a bill half as large.
Perhaps not as bad as the title makes it sound. Near the end of our trip, we went to some fancy restaurant/lounge that had been recommended. They wanted a $10 cover, and we decided it was too swanky for us. So we got back in the rental and drove around and eventually ended up in some Western-themed joint near that awful Fisherman's Wharf. There was no cover, but the food was not as cheap as it tasted, the music was a nuisance, and I would have paid to stay hungry.
Canard solitaire
As told elsewhere.
McDonald's in New York City
Not a bad dining experience, but it was a rather poor judgment to suggest getting supersized while we were still dating. As I remember it, we couldn't decide on anything else, and there may have been some toilet-related urgency. We don't pass by McDonald's in New York too often, but whenever we do, I get a little reminder of my cheapskate past.
Gouged in Barcelona
Ah, but traveling only got better once we were married. On this trip, I was supposed to make vacation plans for the first time, but I just hit a few websites the day before we left. It didn't help that I packed a bunch of socks and no pants. By the third day we were wandering around wearing beach clothes and unable to find the beach, leading naturally to a fight that evening.
After an awkward dinner, we found an internet shop and booked train tickets to an outlying town for the following day. Still a bit sullen, we walked back up Las Ramblas toward the hotel. We stopped at one of the many cafes and I ordered two Cokes. The waiter brought out two giant jugs, together at least a gallon of cola. On another day that might have been welcome change from the usual half-pint glass with an ice cube or two, but it was after midnight and I just sipped at mine, trying weakly to make conversation. The bill arrived. Later I would regret not having documented the evidence, for a blinding rage prevented me from making a clear note of the amount. I recall it being 22 euros. The waiter had gone into hiding, so I threw what vitriol as I could translate at some employee, who presently brought out a bill half as large.
