THE TROUGH: AMANOUZ

9:30 AM. First day of our long-awaited London adventure. Anne and I rocked back in our chairs, watching early morning shoppers strolling by the restaurant window front. The waitress approached and presented us with the orders. We were ravenous … and wasted no time digging in. Steamed curled into the air and with it the aroma of toast and eggs. We had selected Moroccan cuisine to begin our journey and ordered the Pasha omelette for Anne and the Avocado omelette for me. Each came with a toasted Portuguese roll and spicy hash browns. Or maybe they were hashish browns … either way, they were delicious. We sipped Moroccan mint tea as we dined.

It is amazing how tiring international travel can be. Already, we were exhausted. Alarms bellowing at 5:00 AM … last minute packing and straightening up before we left … You know, I always worry a bit on that first morning … did I forget anything? The Air Canada people were exceptionally helpful. “No, you cannot check in”. “No, your flight has not been cancelled”. “No, London is completely shut down”. Everything we heard was exactly what we expected to hear. We saw on the news that all airports in Great Britain were shut down. When we tried to check in online, we were told there was a problem and we had to check in at the airport. However, the flight had not been cancelled. We had to try … so we drove to Hartford to hear the Air Canada people tell us to go home and call Air Canada. Adios, London vacation.

The first ethnic meal for our London adventure was in Northampton MA at Amanouz. It was great. Fate … no, not fate … the Icelandic volcano had given us the dirty deal. We were tired and depressed … but not defeated! “Don’t worry Anne, we will figure out something else to do to make up for the spoiled vacation”.

And then I knocked over my glass of tea onto my lap. I picked the mint leaf off my crotch and we went home. Bon Appetit.