Monday, June 26, 2006
Why I travel with a tea pot
I traveled for work again last week. We were in Southern California (where the weather was far nicer than it was in NJ) for some focus groups. Since I left the house at 4:30 AM Eastern Time and had a second round of focus groups at 6:00 - 8:00 PM Pacific Time, I brought my tea pot with me to the testing facility. In the afternoon (perhaps when bringing us chocolate chip cookies - AIM rocks!), one of our hosts noticed the tea pot and told us that they would bring hot water for us. So, the next day, assured that water was available, I left my tea pot in the hotel room. Mid-morning when I was ready for the second cup, I went out, pulled out a mug, opened a bag of tea, and got ready to pour water from the carafe they had put out for us. But, before the water hit the mug, I sniffed the water and smelled the telltale signs of a coffee carafe. I put the carafe back down, threw away my tea bag, turned my mug back over and walked back into testing, thankful that I had brought my tea pot all the way across the country and thankful that I had had it the day before when I needed tea so desperately. Some day, people will realize that serving hot water in a container that has had coffee in it makes hot water taste like coffee. If I liked coffee, I'd be drinking it instead!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Italy Final Report
I never did get the converter, but I did okay with tea anyway. Our second morning at Il Guelfo Bianco, I was in desperate need of PG Tips. (For some still-unknown reason, I only slept a few hours the night before.) I brought my tea bag to breakfast and was thrilled to find the the water in the tea pot they handed me was so much hotter than the day before.
That morning, we started a bike trip with Butterfield & Robinson. In our first hotel, the Villa Petrischio, our room had an electric water boiler in it so we had a nice cup of Earl Grey in the afternoon. In the mornings, I had what was offered me in the restaurant, which perplexed me a great deal. Sitting on the bar near an impressive espresso machine were many tins and jars of loose tea, but bags of Twinings came with my tea pot. I am certainly not unhappy with Twinings, but I was a little surprised to be so tantalized by a great selection of loose tea that was never offered to me. Que sera, I suppose.
In our second hotel, I had a great cup of tea. It wasn't the tea itself that was unusal, but the situation and how welcome the tea was. I had come down with a cold by this part of the trip and in the evening before dinner, while the rain poured in sheets outside of the building, the hotel clerk heard that I was sick and offered me a cup of tea. What a welcome treat! It was one of the best cups of Twinings Earl Grey that I have enjoyed! Thank you, Villa Cicolina, for your thoughtfulness!
In our third hotel room at Casa Bianca, we had a suite with a small kitchen. There was no electric water boiler, but there was a pan and a stove and I made good use of both. I had afternoon tea both days after biking and a strong cup of PG Tips each morning. For those of you who have been on a bike trip before, it won't surprise you to hear how needed a strong cup of tea is on the 5th and 6th days of biking.
So, as it turns out, the tea pot took up unnecessary space in the suitcase because the tea options were better in Italy than I expected and were also more consistent than I have found them in the U.S. I did have a great cup of cappuccino in Italy (when in Rome...), but the Italians demonstrated that it isn't just about the coffee there;I never had a bad cup of tea either. Grazie mille!
That morning, we started a bike trip with Butterfield & Robinson. In our first hotel, the Villa Petrischio, our room had an electric water boiler in it so we had a nice cup of Earl Grey in the afternoon. In the mornings, I had what was offered me in the restaurant, which perplexed me a great deal. Sitting on the bar near an impressive espresso machine were many tins and jars of loose tea, but bags of Twinings came with my tea pot. I am certainly not unhappy with Twinings, but I was a little surprised to be so tantalized by a great selection of loose tea that was never offered to me. Que sera, I suppose.
In our second hotel, I had a great cup of tea. It wasn't the tea itself that was unusal, but the situation and how welcome the tea was. I had come down with a cold by this part of the trip and in the evening before dinner, while the rain poured in sheets outside of the building, the hotel clerk heard that I was sick and offered me a cup of tea. What a welcome treat! It was one of the best cups of Twinings Earl Grey that I have enjoyed! Thank you, Villa Cicolina, for your thoughtfulness!
In our third hotel room at Casa Bianca, we had a suite with a small kitchen. There was no electric water boiler, but there was a pan and a stove and I made good use of both. I had afternoon tea both days after biking and a strong cup of PG Tips each morning. For those of you who have been on a bike trip before, it won't surprise you to hear how needed a strong cup of tea is on the 5th and 6th days of biking.
So, as it turns out, the tea pot took up unnecessary space in the suitcase because the tea options were better in Italy than I expected and were also more consistent than I have found them in the U.S. I did have a great cup of cappuccino in Italy (when in Rome...), but the Italians demonstrated that it isn't just about the coffee there;I never had a bad cup of tea either. Grazie mille!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)