I‘ve been looking back at old photos and reminiscing about holidays this week. I miss travelling! We were privileged as children and teenagers in that our parents wanted us to travel with them, to experience other cultures and ways of living. They instilled a love of travelling in us from a young age. Many of our trips were to visit various family members around the world. Travelling as a family of five was eye wateringly expensive so we often stayed in spare rooms and slept on air beds on the floors of friends’ and family member’s houses.
Does anyone else plan their holiday itinerary around what and where they want to eat? I think I get this from my dad. He would drag us around searching for places he’d heard about from someone, somewhere. Often in the middle of no-where and sometimes, searching desperately for somewhere no longer even in business. It would drive my mother mad, seeing as she had to keep three bored and hungry kids in line. I still get hangry now thinking about it! On our first European holiday to Lanzarote, I remember the volcanic sand, cacti and camels but I also remember eating a Peach Melba for the first time. Vanilla ice-cream, fresh peaches and strawberry syrup in a tall glass topped with a spray of squirty cream. It was such a treat and felt so fancy!
Lanzarote 1994
We visited Thailand with our Aunts and cousins on a few different occasions. There, the buffet breakfasts always stand out. The fresh fruit was the best of any I have ever tasted and the little banana pancakes made fresh in front of you were amazing hot out of the pan. The trips to visit our grandmother and cousins in Canada have memories of Maple candies, Dragon beard sweets and my first experience of a corndog. Dragon beard sweets are amazing when freshly made! They are made of super thin wispy strands of hand pulled sugar, thicker than candy floss but thinner than candy sticks. I remember the sugar being soft and chewy and the filling of crushed peanuts, brown sugar and coconut being super aromatic. Corn dogs however, did not make a good first impression. The first time we ever had KFC was on a trip to London as a teenager. We were visiting an old friend of my dad’s from Uni who we called Uncle Timmy and his wife Fely.
On one of my first holidays abroad without my parents, I went to New York with a friend to meet up with another friend who was on a student working Visa there for the summer. She was sharing in a tiny one bedroom basement flat with two other students so it was a tight squeeze but we didn't care. We bought our breakfasts from the neighbourhood corner shop and ate on the fly while out and about. We were 19 so not able to drink in the state of New York which curtailed our plans for nights out somewhat. Instead, we spent our time sightseeing and shopping and food was more of an afterthought. The most delicious thing I ate that trip was a seriously over stuffed Ruben sandwich from a deli near Central Park. We bought our sandwiches and bottles of snapple (that seemed so exotic at the time) and took them into the Park for a picnic in the glorious sunshine. Ruben sandwiches will always remind me of that trip. The sense of independence and of being on a real grown up adventure was exciting and also terrifying.
The year before I moved to Chester, my mother and I planned a big trip for our last summer holiday as a family. I was 22, my brothers were 17 and 18. I think mom was aware that future holidays as a family group would be rare if they happened at all. I was moving to the UK and the boys would be moving out to go to Uni so she and Dad would have a completely empty nest for the first time. She wanted our last summer together to be a good one. We did a whistle-stop round the world trip, starting in Los Angeles, then onto Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown in New Zealand, spending just a few nights in each place. After that was a stopover in Melbourne for a couple of days before going to Hong Kong for a longer stay with a trip into China in the middle and then home again in time for the new term. Mom booked the flights but I was put in charge of booking the accommodation. I booked us into hostels and self-catering apartments much to my mother’s chagrin. Packing was a challenge as we needed summer clothes for LA and Hong Kong but cold weather gear for New Zealand and Australia.
Queuing for breakfast in New Zealand
I spent a lot of time with my brothers on that trip. My parents had not adapted to holidaying with three grown up children and our ideas of what we wanted to do and see and eat clashed so we often went out in two separate groups. In LA, we walked Hollywood Boulevard, taking the obligatory photos with our favourite celebrity’s handprints, shopped and went to the beach. The only food memory that jumps out was that the doughnuts were delicious. Dad got them for us for breakfast one morning. They were not from any famous doughnut chain, just the shop on the corner but they are still warm and they were heavenly. I don’t know why but American food has never impressed me much. I know it’s a massive generalisation. Maybe I just need to try more of it? To be fair we did spend the first part of that trip in deep jet lag!
We loved New Zealand and it’s somewhere I definite would like to return to in the future. Auckland is so beautiful and very hilly! The coffee culture is lovely, very relaxed and oh so trendy even back in the late 2000’s. Andy did his first adventure holiday thing here, a base jump from New Zealand’s tallest building, the Sky Tower. Queenstown was, and still is, an adventure destination and probably our favourite place on the whole holiday. We stayed in a hostel famous for its resident Ginger cat, I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called now. We went on a siblings trip up the mountains for a day of skiing and snowboarding lessons. My parents did their own things (for fear of breaking something). I remember how ravenous we were after the day of freezing ourselves silly. We tried and loved the now famous Fergburger. They were absolutely enormous burgers. Burgers the size of your head! We’d get one each, eat half and then save the other half for later on in the day. They’re still the best burgers I’ve ever eaten. Andy and I also went skydiving, Allan, having always been the most delicately constituted of the three of us, skipped it. I paid for Andy’s dive as his 18th birthday present and while he loved it and wanted to go again as soon as he landed, I said never again! I’m very glad I did it, it was an awesome experience but definitely a once in a lifetime experience for me. I didn’t eat that day, before or after the jump! Christchurch was much quieter and a much-needed break after the adventures of Queenstown. Allan, typically enough, made friends with the gang of old folk that hung around near some outdoor chess boards and we watched warily in case someone tried to scam/abduct/adopt him. Melbourne passed by in a blur and then we were into the usual round of visiting family and friends in Hong Kong. The holiday was a celebratory good bye to our childhood and marked the start of us all fleeing the nest. While we do all now return regularly, it's never really to stay. I am so grateful that I got to spend that time with my brothers. It was a good time all round.
Nowadays, I compromise with hubby on how we spend our holidays and we choose what sights/tourist spots we are going to see and then research good places to eat nearby. The joys of tripadvisor! We do often just check out where-ever is the busiest and follow the locals. My memories of our holidays as a couple are punctuated and highlighted by the meals we had. On our first trip abroad together, we went to Italy, spending 4 nights in Rome and 4 nights in Venice. In Rome, I remember what I was eating (seafood spaghetti) when my then boyfriend, now husband, told me that he had a very important question to ask me and if I would prefer to be asked in the restaurant or afterwards (afterwards, would be too embarrassed in there). On our first night in Venice, we stumbled on a restaurant in a random piazza and ate squid ink pasta under the stars, flushed with giddiness and fizzing with excitement about our engagement. On our last night there we ate at a tiny trattoria by a canal. We’d come across the place earlier in the day, drawn in by very loud music. I peeped in the door to find an old Italian lady performing some very enthusiastic air guitar and rocking out to some heavy metal while prepping food. I asked if we could have a table as this was definitely somewhere we wanted to eat! She told us to come back at 7.30pm, that there was no menu, we’d just eat whatever she felt like making that day and it would be ready when it was ready. She was awesome and predictably enough so was the food. The restaurant was full of noise and chatter. We didn’t know what any of it was but we were served course after course of delicious seafood, pasta and vegetables, rounded off by the tiniest pots of panna cotta and strong espresso coffees. I still have no idea what it was called and probably couldn’t find it again. It was my first time visiting Italy and it will definitely not be my last!
Durian ice cream with Sticky Rice in Bangkok
Michelin Starred Dim Sum in Hong Kong
Our honeymoon was spent partly in Bangkok and partly in Hong Kong in order to see all the family members who could not get to the UK for our wedding. In Bangkok we mostly ate cheaply at local markets and food courts while out sightseeing. We did go for a lovely evening dinner on a river boat with my parents to thank them for the trip. It was during this holiday that I introduced my husband to Durian fruit (he hates the stuff) and we discovered a love of Thai iced tea. My memories of Hong Kong are all interwoven with family feasts and street food stalls and I was so excited to show Gordon all the delights! I introduced him to Dan-Tat fresh from the bakery and we had the most exquisite vegetarian dim-sum and tea at the Hong Kong Tea Museum. We tried the Michelin starred Dim Sum at Tim Ho Wan and had refreshing Bing-Su (fruity shaved ices) to cool us down while we went sightseeing. I only wish we had had more time!
Gordon trying Bing-Su for the first time in Hong Kong
Others will have souvenirs and photos but I am very food orientated as you will all know by now! Recreating the dishes and flavours we ate on holidays at home brings back many happy memories. I will be spending some of this week buried in cookbooks and looking to recreate some travelling experiences, even if only for our tastebuds!
What are your stand out meals from your travels? I've left out or mostly forgotten the bad meals and experiences but of course there are always some stories of woe! Have you had any really good or bad experiences? Recommendations always very welcome!
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