I hadn’t planned it that way, didn’t even realise until it was too late, but yesterday was a meat free day – thanks, in no small part, to my rusty Italian skills.
It started quite normally with a bowl of cereal, progressing to a lunch of cheese sandwiches dipped into cup-a-soup. By the time I got to Pizza Express (other pizza establishments are available, however, in the author’s opinion, not as good), I was foaming like a crazed carnivore, thinking about four corners of meaty pizza goodness. So, I confidently ordered – no need to look at the menu, we all know that quattro formaggi is four corners, right … only it isn’t. What I should have asked for was stagioni, but by the time I realised my mistake it was too late.
This was not my first foreign language faux pas. I managed to embarrass myself in a Venice pharmacy with the straightforward question: “Dove posso mangiare crema del sol?” With a bemused look on her face, the assistant, rubbing her arms, repeated, “crema del sol.” And then realisation dawned. I’d asked where I could eat sun cream. Well, at least I tried to speak native!
To be honest, I wasn’t too disappointed by my mistake in the pizzeria. The pizza was delicious, and realising I’d not had any meat that day made me feel quite good in an ethical sort of way. I can’t see myself ever becoming a vegetarian, but I think I will make a conscious effort to have meat free days. After all, the less I eat meat, the less I impact the environment – and it’s probably better for my health too.
March 29th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
haha I had a similar experience in a pharmacy in Rome – all eyes on me – confusion written all over the faces behind the counter… throwing out names of products they think I’m saying – sometimes comical.
Meat free days are great… *high five!
March 29th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Ha! Glad I’m not the only one. At least they can’t say we didn’t try speaking native!
I should be relieved that I only needed sun-cream and not haemorrhoid cream. Imagine the hand gestures needed to get that across to a foreign pharmacist
August 7th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
[...] why I’m going to give alternate fasting a go, and try and have a few more meat free days along the way. I’ll try and keep you updated… that’s if I manage to keep from gnawing my own [...]