Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Salad "Nicosia"

I guess I've been very lucky with travel. Sure, we've had lost luggage, awful flight delays, and some, um, unusual accommodations. But nothing truly horrible.

One of the most memorable meals we had (not in a good way) was in Paris on the Ile de Saint Louis. We were there in 1991, during the first Gulf War and there was a lot of reporting on the war coming out of Nicosia, Cyprus. We wound up being seated almost shoulder-to-shoulder with a foursome consisting of a young French couple and an older American couple (the French guy's boss). Mr. American Boss Man proceded to give everyone his impressions of France, including the fact that when you order a tomato salad, "all you get are tomatoes." And, that he particularly enjoyed that "Salad Nicosia" (otherwise known as Salad Nicoise). It was an extremely long evening and Drake and I felt terrible as this bore droned on and on, occasionally pulling us in for reinforcement. It was impossible for anyone else to get a word in edgewise - and an embarrassment to all Americans!