Since it was a ‘bridge day’ today, Julius’ school was closed and luckily we had Adwoa’s car, so I could go with him visit Ritsu at her office for lunch. And as soon as Julius spotted more dandelions, he remembered what to do with them. Funny thing is that he only blows once and then moves on to the next … gotta work on that.
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… well .. actually it is not chocolate at all … but some evil tasty treat with fish flavor … I cannot believe I have not tried to make this earlier.
It is a very Piemontese (of this region) dish, it is super simple and sinfully delicious …
You just need 5 garlic cloves, 12 filets of anchovies (well, usually the contents of a can) chopped, or even better blended with a cup of olive oil. Then put it on low heat for a while, take care it does not burn … and when you think it is ready, whisk some butter under it.
And then serve it with some raw or warm veggies as a dip…
Here is a wiki entry about it, and here is a recipe, one out of many. One thing for sure, you will not have any problems with vampires that night.
Enjoy
(picture from here)
Besides visiting our favorite Asian restaurant again (which seems to be becoming a weekend habit) and Julius getting even more comfortable with Lucy (now they are playing behind the bar .. what next … the kitchen ??? ) … Anyways .. great food as usual and we actually tried some new dishes this time (chicken gong-bao and spicy chicken with cashew nuts).
Afterwards we went to Valentino Park to take a stroll and we had a lot of fun with ducks, pigeons and discovering flowers. This must have been the first time that Julius got to blow a dandelion (Pusteblume) .. and he was fascinated. (can we have a video, please?)
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Since Julius has this thing with his ears I have made it an absolute mandatory item that his hair (and ears) are dry after each bath … and he complies (98% of the times)
He is not looking too happy … but he knows it is a must .. just like the nightly tooth brushing …
(And yes, I got a haircut, and yes, this is an iPod 3rd gen t-shirt I am wearing)
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Let me begin this post by asking:”Do you remember all those other food / restaurant reviews where I enjoyed pointing out how well behaved Julius was the whole time?”
Well, tonight must have been full moon or something … it was the opposite .. and double that.
Anyways, we had planned to return to Salsamentario, our comfy neighborhood restaurant since we had come back from Jamaica, especially after we have noticed their yet again updated menu (more seafood now). And we invited an old colleague of Ritsu who we knew from Fiji to come along, I booked our babysitter and took Julius out to the playground earlier, so that he would be nicely played out and easier for the babysitter to bring to bed …
Then the babysitter did not show up in time and we decided to just take Julius with us, he had behaved well the last few times and had been in that restaurant before and they were ok with him. Then we got a phone call that we will be some more people (6 in total plus Julius)… the more the merrier. But I think Julius might have been in a mix of being tired and overwhelmed by all the people who suddenly wanted to get to know him.
We managed to keep him occupied with his toys for the time it took us to translate the menu and order our food …
And then he hit rock bottom …. he wanted to do the opposite of what we offered, he wanted to run around (since it is getting warm the restaurant had both doors open, one leading directly to the street) and he just would not behave … so, in turns we took little walks with him, but that did not last too long. He wanted to go further away from the restaurant (pointing home? I wonder if he already has that sense of direction?) … and carrying him back became close to impossible … we took some more time to try to calm him down (by now food had arrived and even the salmon he loves so much did nothing) … so I carried him home .. the whole way, while he was screaming and kicking and people must have thought I am committing a crime. It is like a 12 min walk uphill from the restaurant to our house, now imagine that with a twisting, fighting 14 kg bundle in your arms. (And you might have guessed why I have neither photo or video of this)
Finally at home, I just let him down and gave him time to calm down. It took another 10 minutes and I tried to explain calmly to him that this was not good behavior and this is why I had to bring him home. It seems he slowly realized and started asking for things we had offered him at the restaurant, like ‘bread’, ‘fish’ and ‘water’ … so .. I talked to him some more and asked him if he would behave if we’d go back (hoping that my salmon carpaccio was still there) .. and for the first time I heard him say ‘behave’ .. with the kind of puppy eyes only manipulative toddlers can make.
So, since I did not feel like having my salmon and my upcoming mussels dish go to waste and some tiny hope that Julius really got my message, we walked out again … and as if he wanted to show that he was serious he was half running all the way back to the restaurant!
From then on it was all ok. The food was, as usual, very good. Julius ate a lot of my raw salmon and to my big surprise, he loves eating mussels. He must have eaten half, if not even more, of my portion. He was even dipping bread to eat more of the (quite peppery) broth.
For people who now wonder if we have no allergy concerns at all: Julius has eaten pretty much any kind of seafood, especially shellfish that there is, including mussels. But this is the first time he had them right from the shell, peeling them out himself.
Everyone else seemed to have enjoyed their food (Morsels of rabbit in thyme and olive oil, bell peppers in bagna cauda, several pasta dishes) and the company. It had been a long day for Mr.J. so no surprise that he was a bit edgy again when we got home (and he wanted to watch TV, yeah, right, as if!)
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Recently, whenever I go out with Julius to the playground, right after he returns from kindergarten, he insists on bringing this little blue bag that he got from JAL when we were flying to Japan last winter. He stuffs some toys in there and he clings on to this bag the whole time: On the way, on the slide, while researching pebbles … but rarely he actually opens it to take out the toys to play with them … security blanket?
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From Debbie, our nanny at FDR, I learned a neat trick on how to make sandwiches that Julius would find visually appealing and had next to no chance to disect to get to the cheese (and eat only that)
Untoasted bread, slightly buttered, slice of process cheese and then squeeze it lightly together. Works like superglue. And since there are now some good grainy softy breads out there, he is getting some good bread, too. Then cut off the edges and slice it into 4 little triangles. Harldy any way to pick out the cheese now … and he loves it.
This is actually quite similar to one of his first breakfast dishes he ever had once he got into solid foods.
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From time to time I just have to let my artsy side go wild and post some pics in black and white 
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I can make a slice of cheese disappear … in 10 seconds ….
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For reasons like blogging and catching up with some TV shows I was up until 4AM … I heard Ritsu and Julius waking up around 8AM, but they were kind enough to let me sleep in. When I woke up at 11:30 AM, this was just the cutest picture I found in the living room:
If I recall correctly, they even napped some more in the afternoon.
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Once again we headed over to our favourite Asian restaurant with Adwoa and had all the usual stuff we keep ordering. Julius was still sleeping when we arrived, but soon woke up and realized that he was at that place with the fish tank.
The daughter of one of the waitresses, Lucy, knows him by name now and always hangs around our table, trying to play with him. She was surprised to see him trying to eat with bastonccini (chopsticks) and kept saying that he can’t, but he actually managed to surprise her by getting some of the wonton in his mouth.
Later they played quietly at a table at the bar area, which was very cute and made our lunch very relaxed.
The only gripe I keep having with this place is that they like to bribe their kids (and thus guest kids) with candy … argh …
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Just some harmless playing in the shade, by the beach, in this red mini pool (which he would also use for hiding at times)
I tried to get Julius’ dreadlocks / rasta-braids out today … and this is what I got in the end
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Guess who surprised us with a mild fever of 38.5 and a nasty cough again …
In fear of another ear infection I called the doctor right away, kept Julius at home and after the doctor came by (saying that most likely he cought something again on that long plane ride) we went out to get his meds.
But even bribing him to some gelato was not enough to get a smile from him.
But sure enough he made a big mess.
The good news, as the doctor predicted as a slight chance, Julius was able to fight the fever by himself and with some help of paracetamol. Even though he prescribed a different variety of antibiotics, there was no need to give it to him … now let’s hope there will not be another ear infection anytime soon.
I finally got to edit together some pans and wipes and the usual vacation stuff, put the mandatory reggae music under it (let’s see how quickly if at all youtube will yank the video for that) and post it here for your viewing pleasure. Not the best video I have ever done, but sure some nice memories for us and maybe some eye candy for those who are curious. (My review at tripadvisor is being reviewed right now and I will post the link later)
To answer Tammy’s question how Jamaica compares to Fiji … we were surprised about the visual similarities .. especially when we were driving from coast to coast: Lush rain forest, houses and shags in funky colors, street vendors … but one big difference might be the influence by US tourists … prices are sometimes through the roof (I overheard a guy booking a taxi for a half hour ride and they told him it was 80 USD for his family of 4!) … tipping is expected everywhere … and you have all your US food places around (minus McD, they closed all their Jamaica operations not to long ago)
Can’t say which I like better, I did not miss the constant racial tension I had experienced in Fiji, though I bet Jamaica has its own problems, but I love their credo “Out of many, one people”, which Fiji could use some more.
We often think about Toberua, our favourite vacation island. But if we lived in the US, Jamaica is so close and Fiji is so far.
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Things are going well in this department (no-parents who squirm about this topic might wanna skip this post)
It was quite an achievement over during vacation that we could continue the training … and we only had very minor accidents (which can be quickly hidden by a quick shower or just throwing him in the sea) .. we did not have a potty, so we had to rely on him telling us when it was time … sitting on the real toilet was a bit scary for him .. so if in some cases he asked for diapers we knew what was up …
He is pretty much done with potty training … but I am curious about the time ahead … while e.g. on the highway and him asking to go take a leak, no idea how long he can hold it yet … but thinks look good overall.
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This time we have been blessed with nearly no effects of jet lag … in no way as bad as we had it when we went to Japan in December.
As I keep saying, traveling with the sun is easier … when going to Jamaica, we just had to keep ourselves awake and it worked … and coming back … I think that the unscheduled 5 h intermission in Madrid was actually helping us (since it was VIP lounge and not the torture chairs of coach) and when we arrived in the evening, we all took some melatonin and that obviously tricked our bodies into thinking that this is the night sleep coming up.
And it worked very well. Ritsu and Julius went to bed at 10:30 PM and did not wake up until 7:30 AM next day … success.
One suitcase is still missing, but we have been told that it is still in Madrid and not lost.
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Just a quick note that we finally made it back to Turin. The 5 hour break in Madrid turned out to be actually quite relaxing (since we could use the VIP lounge, the showers there and the internet connection) and we had vouchers for the adjacent restaurant, which was quite descent.
Not so nice that upon arrival one of our suitcases (mainly my stuff) turned up missing. I still have high hopes that it will re-surface eventually. It has e.g. my divelog with all 374 logged dives and all my c-cards, which would be quite an act to replace … ah well .. sit and wait I guess.
Greetings from Madrid!
Our travels are not over yet.
Yesterday morning our trusted cab driver Neville picked us up right on time at 7AM at our resort and the ride back to Kingston airport was smooth and again through the lush forests and mountains of central Jamaica. We arrived one hour earlier than we had to, checked in, went through security and then spent our waiting time with some last minute shopping and idling around.
| Sure enough our flight was delayed by one hour and we began to worry about our connecting flight in Miami. The journey to Miami was pretty ok, Ritsu and Julius slept most of the time. Once in Miami, again no trouble going through immigration and customs, then we repacked our bags a bit (i.e. Putting all the hot sauces we had bought into our check-in luggage and getting out some changing clothes) … We then hurried to our next security check and we had to bypass the loooong line since it was already our boarding time. Sure enough they had to do some extra checking on me, since the wrist splint I am wearing has some metal in it. |
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Julius got very upset at that time and I had to drag him to rest of the way.
Boarding was already underway when we arrived and thanks to the extended security screening I had lost the chance to do some duty free shopping.
The long flight from Miami to Madrid was again very full and we were not really sitting all together, I was sitting across the aisle wedged in with 2 other grown men. In addition to that, my neighbor’s little brother showed up every 5 minutes for chit chatting across my seat, which was super annoying. I tried to read, but that was hardly possible. I invested some dollars into getting a nice evening Gin & Tonic (Joke of the day: “You can purchase alcoholic beverages for either 5USD or 5EU [which last time I checked was 6.67USD!] … anyone else know of airlines that now charge for drinks on int’l flights?) and also took the medication the doctor had given me, which helped me to actually find some sleep. Food was boring and since we were sitting very much towards the rear, the chicken option was gone by the time they had reached us.
We all slept quite some and woke up when an equally boring breakfast was served and soon we were approaching Madrid. Our flight had taken off too late, so once again we feared for our connecting flight, but we tackled all controls and the long walk / tram ride to our departure gate an made it in time ..
And this was when the shit hit the fan: We were already outside, walking towards the plane, when we were called back!!! Thinking positively I thought that maybe we get a better seat assignment, but instead we were told that we are not on that flight!!!
After 24 h of travel, being stinky sweaty and partially covered in orange juice from a previous drink accident, I blew a fuse and started to get very loud and used the F word a few times (which I usually refrain from). Long story short, American Airlines was of the opinion that in no way we were be able to make it to our flight, so they canceled our tickets (maybe to let some waitlist people on). We were furious, tired and sweaty and made a big scene, asked for the manager and so one … But our flight was gone by that time…
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And the best they could do for us was putting us on the next flight, which is 5 h later, giving us access to the VIP lounge, where we can take a shower (and I can deplete their bar) and where I hopefully can go online in a bit.
Luckily Julius fell asleep during the whole thing and is now sleeping very comfortably on one of the couches here. And in a bit we will have lunch, also courtesy of Iberia. The internet connection feels a bit buggy, the only wi-fi networks I can pick up are ‘pay as you go’ … but they have these laptop station with ethernet port. |
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Too bad this trip is coming to an end and we are facing the loooong way back … 3 h taxi from here to Kingston, then flying to Miami, from there to Madrid .. and sometime Monday afternoon we shall be back in Torino …
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