Goldilocks'd in Spain

Next and final stop on our 'round the world voyage was Spain, Europe!  Ms. Dish and I attempted two swaps while in Spain, both in the beautiful town of Tarifa.  Tarifa is small town on the very southernmost tip of Spain.  Recently Tarifa's pristine beaches have become a mecca for kite-boarders!

They were everywhere, and it definitely changed my impression of kiteboarding from "kind of dorky" to "kind of cool". 

Attempted Swap Number One took place at La Trattoria:

We quickly found that Coffee in Spain is usually served in a small cup accompanied by a tiny coffee spoon.  Unfortunately, we were still packing a large Chicago-style soup spoon, so we found ourselves Goldilocks'd.  Fortunately the food at La Trattoria was very good!

Attempted Swap Number Two was down the street at Cafe Babel:

Here we sampled a number of delicious 'tapas', though again we were Goldilocks'd by the tiny coffee spoon!  I suppose we were simply not meant to swap spoons in Spain...

Goldilocks'd in Ireland

Greetings Spoon Swappers!  Very sorry for the delay in this post, but as mentioned last time, Ms. Dish and I have been on holiday in Ireland!  Aside from having an absolutely wonderful time, we did pack along Spoon #28 with the hopes of fitting a couple of international swaps.

As it turns out, it was not easy to swap spoons in Ireland!  All too often we ran into the oversized soup spoon and the tiny coffee spoon!  A regular 'merican sized spoon like #28 just didn't seem to fit in around here.

Such was the case at Apsley's in Larne, a seaport town in Northern Ireland.

 

We happened to stop in on a Sunday after arriving in Dublin several hours earlier.  Being a Sunday, most of the town was closed, but Apsley's seemed welcoming enough.  Aside from being our first Irish meal, this was our first Irish "Fry", a breakfast consisting of eggs, ham, sausage, potatoes, tomato, and soda bread toast.  In this case the fry also included baked beans.  Unfortunately this was a true Goldilocks situation as the beans came with a soup spoon and the coffee with a tiny spoon.

Next up was The Grill Room in Belfast: 

Apologies for the "street view" of The Grill Room.  The Grill Room was actually the restaurant attached to the hotel where we were staying.  Usually Ms. Dish and I are a little hesitant when it comes to hotel restaurants.  Often over-priced and under-delicious here in the States, this does not seem to be the case in the places we visited in Ireland.  Our dinner at The Grill Room was in fact very delicious, and Ms. Dish and I even ordered coffee and the desert with the hopes of swapping.  Unfortunately we were again thwarted by the tiny desert spoon!

On to the tiny town of Mullaghmor, just north of Sligo on the western coast of Ireland.  Ms. Dish and I headed up to Mullaghmor with the hopes of taking some photos of Classiebawn Castle before the sun set. As the sun went down the temperature dropped and the winds picked up - we found ourselves quite hungry.  Fortunately we found the Quay Bar & Restaurant just across from the town's tiny harbor:

Again had a great meal of traditional Irish pub fare, but we were Goldilocks'd by the tiny desert spoon!

In Galway, Ms. Dish and I stopped in at Mc Donagh's, famous for their fish and chips: 

Ms. Dish even tried the Fried Salmon, which I had never heard of before. With our fish & chips we ordered up some chowder with the hopes of swapping, but as the trend continued, it was served with a soup spoon.  Goldilocks'd yet again! 

Zero Otto Nove: Goldilocks'd on Arthur Avenue

When I was but a young child, I went camping with my parents deep in the woods of Maine.  While my folks were attending to the camp, I wandered, and was soon lost in the woods.  Despite much searching, I would never see my family again.  Fortunately, I was taken in by a family of bears who treated me as their own.  My new bear family was very good at telling stories, their favorite being the classic tale of bear-human conflict, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”

I’m sure you have heard the story, but in case you haven’t (maybe you were raised by turkeys!), I will rehash it.  Goldilocks was a girl who some might describe as “intrusive”.  I’m sure her mother would say she was just “inquisitive” or a girl who “knew what she wanted”.  Anyway, Goldilocks is famous for breaking into the home of a typical bear family, eating their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds, all the while incessantly complaining about things being too hot/cold, big/small, soft/hard, et cetera.  In the end Goldilock’s narcissism caught up with her and the bears ate her. 

How does this relate to spoon-swapping?  I’ll tell you.  It all lies in the bane of the spoon-swapper:  The tiny “too small” dessert spoon, and its big brother the “too large” soup spoon.  These two will ruin your swap every time as they are completely and utterly un-swappable! 

Ordering soup at a restaurant as precursor to a swap is always risky, as the soup spoon is all too common.  Try swapping a standard issue spoon with one of these monsters and you might get away… but at the next joint, that big old soup spoon will stick out like a sore thumb!  So for this reason, soup is not the preferred route.  Much better to go with coffee or tea!  Nine times out of ten you’ll get a nice regular sized spoon with a cup of coffee… but it was not so when Ms. Dish and I visited Zero Otto Nove recently. 

Here at Zero Otto Nove, they serve their coffee with a little miniaturized spoon, ruining an otherwise fantastic meal!  We’d been Goldilocks’d by this “too-small” spoon!

Zero Otto Nove is on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, an oasis of Italian ambiance!  There is no shortage of fine restaurants and bakeries in the area, so Ms. Dish and I vow to return for a proper swap.