A Balanced Diet

It wouldn’t be poignant of me to write a blog bragging about all the good things that go with a week away from the grind. Or a month.

My goal of this trip (tho not from the outset) has become this: gorge myself into oblivion, and hope I somehow come out better on the other side. One never wants to deprive themselves of the delicious options available only while they travel distant lands. If we don’t ‘carpe diem’ and investigate the local cuisine, we may not otherwise fully understand what magical knowledge the locals really possess.

Who can resist several pieces of that fresh bread on the table before the meal comes in a place like Spain? You know, the bread with the hard crust and the soft middle, maybe with that oil and vinegar from the region to dip it in. They do this at Italian restaurants back home, but with places offering bottomless pasta bowls like at Olive Garden, why would you take up valuable stomach space for bread?

Don’t mention this to anyone, because it’s hardly worth saying how much weight I’ve gained from all these European goodies. And you thought the Tiramasu at Starbucks was good.

Oddly, I was running 5-6 kilometers daily to get in shape for the beach prior to take off in the end of July. I was pumping out sets of crunches and leg lifts to target sizing down my stomach. I even sweated a few times. Now, I feel like I’m dedicated to drinking every last drop of European beer because Korean swill is so bad in comparison.

Of course, beer isn’t the only beverage making me happy in Europe. If you’re doing it right, and especially with the locals, it’s wine with every meal including lunch. Red if you’re lucky, in Italy anyway. It’s nothing like that crap some of us normally drink back home. Trust me.

Now I better finish this beer before it gets warm.

Keep the faith.