One of my fondest memories of travelling is not even mine.

It’s Mr W’s. 

Four years ago we took an impromptu trip to Rome. Our first time in Italy.

Rome itself was unexpectedly brilliant in the most simple of places and a little underwhelming in other big tourist draws. I’ll do another blog on those really soon. 

My favourite part of the whole trip, is when Mr W told me of his encounter with the cashier in Caffè Italia on Via Di Santa Croce late one evening. As we had spent the better part of the day walking and visiting, our food intake had been small, and we were starving. We wandered into this eatery only a stones throw from our accommodation and Mr W went to order. When he returned he had the biggest laughing smile on his face. His story went somewhat like this:

Mr W: Hello, I’d like to order some food.

Cashier with a exceptionally deep voice: Sì

W: The carbonara 

C: Sì

W: Margherita pizza

C: Sì

W: The Lasagne

C: (a look up from the till and slightly longer drawn out) Sì

W: A Cappuccino

C: Sì…

W: A cola

C: Sì

W: And a tiramisu 

C: (confusion) Sì

Now you have to really imagine how deep the man’s voice was and how long the drawn out nature of the responses were, but I sat in both hilarity and mortification. It slowly dawned on me that we were sitting at a table designed for two and the food definitely wasn’t. We basically had 1 night to try all the foods on our list. Easy right? We then learned that ordering coffee with dinner is unheard of in Italy. Then there’s the amount of food we ordered. Ah when in Rome eh!

It’s funny how food can make the best memories in the most unexpected of situations.

A few years ago we spent 6 days touring Cornwall and Devon. Another first-time trip. And we had the most glorious weather when exploring Newquay, Torquay and Lands End. We even saw a basking shark while looking out to sea from the Minack Theatre. It was absolutely beautiful. At the end of our trip we stayed in a countryside hotel in Dartmoor National Park. We had decided to spend two days relaxing and taking a few walks. The weather decided to send a monsoon which made driving impossible, let alone walking. Stuck in our hotel on a weekday, we couldn’t stomach the monotonous offerings on the tv and made a dash out into the rain. Mr W found the closest possible small cafe and we spent a good 40 minutes driving the windy roads of the national park. We came upon a small town and splashed our way to food and warmth. We each ordered a cream tea. Baked to order the scones came warm and HUGE, with pots of cream and jam. Absolutely delicious! The owner had relocated from South Africa with her partner to run this quaint place. And we are so glad she did! When the scones were finished, she brought more over, when the jam/cream was finished, she did the same. It became a vicious circle which ended with us unable to walk too fast to dodge the raindrops back to the car. Totally worth it.

On our honeymoon, we treated ourselves to a luxurious trip to the Maldives. The restaurant open to us for lunch and dinner was exclusive to our accommodation and was another luxury we didn’t anticipate but was more than grateful for. Each evening, there were dishes to tempt every kind of palate and a chef cooking dishes to order too. On occasion there would be a one-off menu item that could help yourself to. It just happened to be the last item before you reached the tables. Walking through the well laid out buffet every day to get to your table was enough to tempt you to stay all night. Indian curries, delectable chicken dishes and more fresh vegetables than you can imagine. One particular evening, Mr W pointed out a large piece of meat as we perused the offerings, noticing the texture I remarked that it was Tuna. ‘No way,’ he says, ‘it’s way too big.’ Albeit it, the thing was enormous. But I couldn’t hazard a guess at it being anything else. When our waiter came to our table Mr W asked what the dish was, ‘Tuna’, Mr W’s jaw dropped. ‘But it’s so big.’ The waiter said, ‘We have lots here.’ In a bemused kind of way. I had to stifle a laugh as we both realised we were in one of the largest networks of Atolls in the world surrounded by the Indian Ocean and tuna would have been as a Brit getting chicken or pork. Mr W had his fill and learned a new lesson that maybe, on occasion, his new wife did know what she was talking about!

I like to think that when we eat while travelling we are having the most authentic foods because we are in the place that does it best. What I’ve come to realise and indeed appreciate about the food we eat on our travels isn’t its handmade qualities or how much you get for your money, but how in any language we can connect with other people. Be it the confused Italian, the passionate Devonshire baker or the bemused Maldivian. It reminds me that no matter how far we travel and no matter where we end up there are connections to be made. And ultimately that’s the most tantalising part.