( photo credits _ Carlos Porto)
I don’t normally socially comment on my bog site but my recent time away in America has compelled me to do so. So bear with me and read my mundane travel blog ☺
We started off on the 7th of July with a flight from Perth Western Australia to Sydney (4hrs). We took off 20 min late from Perth and then on arrival at Sydney, bad weather forced us to be held over the city for 30 -40 min. We were already late for our international fight!
We raced without knowledge of where to go from domestic to international terminal via underground train triumphant that we had made it to the United Airlines check in at last, only to be told we were 3 mins late for boarding. We would not be allowed on the plane for our San Francisco destination. This meant a 24hr delay in Sydney. We had to find already checked through luggage, o/night accommodation, phone San Fran hotels, change organised tour dates for Nappa etc etc.
Not a great start to the long awaited holiday!
A few good wines, a reasonable sleep and 24hrs later, we were happily on board our United flight with pretty good seats + leg room, our sights set firmly on San Fran 15hrs away. We were blessed with great travelling companions next to us; one was from the town of Saratoga where we were to spend some of our time so we gained some local information!
5 movies, 2 indigestible meals and 15 hrs of thoughts about how much water we were flying over later, we arrived at SAN FRANSISCO.
We breezed through baggage claim, customs + immigration, walked outside and grabbed a cab immediately. Our first destination hotel Marriott Union Square was only 30min away.
Memories of the main streets of San Fran came flooding back as we were expertly driven (that means holding on for grim death in the back of the cab), though Market, Grant, Sutter + Powell Street.
Our Union Square hotel was in a prime location. Nearby it was easy to hop aboard a cable car or enjoy Union Square people watching, shopping, and is also near popular Nob Hill, Chinatown and minutes from Fisherman’s Warf.
We spent a day in the Nappa Valley tasting great wines and champagne, took the ferry over to Sausalito, revisited Fisherman’s Warf, shopped and generally had a ball there.
Oh, did I mention the shopping (only the third time now). I only succumbed to 6 new pairs of trainers! That should keep me going for at least 2 years or until I retire!
After 4 days in San Fran we took a short fight to Seattle where my real taste sensation began. Actually from here on in until we arrived home, food had never tasted so good.
Meals at the fabulous Hotel 1000 just short walks from the Seattle Warf were outstanding.
The Pike Markets had a full selection of fresh produce both from the earth and the ocean. Punnets of any kind of summer berry for ridiculously cheap prices (these were picked fresh that morning by the way) were being sold for only $2.00US. Fruit was in abundance and soooo cheap. It was good to be able to eat bananas again cheaply. The seafood to die for. The shrimp I saw were bigger than our Aussie King Prawns and again a steal by comparison prices. We made the most of purchasing here.
The next week and a half our time was shared between countryside Seattle and, countryside California. The food taste sensation remained the same…Excellent!
Now finally to my main point. The flavour of the food I tasted, the quality and freshness were unsurpassed. Berries picked that day, apricots and nectarines as large as apples ( aussie sized apples I mean), were delicious. The Washington state apples were also awesome and enormously big. I ate as much Salmon + Dungeness crab as I could. Food had a new flavour and I marvelled at the affect it had on me.
I ate very well and healthily for our entire trip. Not that I don’t normally, but this felt so very different.
Were the new sights and sensations around seducing me? No…I don’t think so. This food was truly amazing, including the food we had served in many restaurants in Seattle and California.
I analysed the differences and upon returning home tried some of the same types of dishes here only to be disappointed. I was back to no flavour, poor presentation and most of all lack of quality service at most restaurants back in Oz.
My first trip back to the supermarket for convenience shopping also proved a disappointment. How much of our food particularly fresh produce is stored for months before it is put out to buy? How is it maintained by the store once placed out for purchase? How often have you bought strawberries for instance only to find the bottom fruit already white and mouldy?
We pay top dollar for our produce only to find quite often it s second rate and we put up with it. The purchase price in America was ridiculously low compared with 100% more quality.
It is in the hands of each and every one of us to shout out about bad service, bad food and supply, after all our wage barely competes with our increased prices at shopping each and every week.
Meanwhile, find alternatives to your regular supplier. Try markets and co-ops, or farmers markets, (they seem to be springing up everywhere, even your local school).
For the next few months I will hold onto the memory of what real food should taste like. I have the choice to make a real effort to find better quality local supplies, be resigned to what we have to put up for convenience sake at the supermarket, or decide to go back and live in the USA!
Marg Anderson
