*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Another Update

Before anyone thinks I've disappeared from the face of this earth, I thought I'd better post a short update.

Quite a lot happened after I left the farm. I had fallen ill on the last day at the farm. I don't know what it was that I ate, but I ended up with a terrible bout of food poisoning. On the last night of my stay in the farm, I was vomitting throughout the night and I had the runs the next morning.

The worst thing was that the runs continued for about ten days, which meant that I was in Turin and Bologna and I didn't even get to eat anything. I tell my friends it's like being in a black comedy - a foodie in Italy who's not able to eat! I stayed in Turin for four nights but I could wasn't really eating at all. I survived on sugared water and some plain bread, so I was really quite weak. I didn't have the energy to walk around and also the weather in Turin was cold and rainy. Rather miserable really. I then made my way to Bologna and had bought train tickets to Florence and Rome and then back to Germany while I was in Turin. I had also arranged my accommodation for all those cities. Anyway, all that came to naught as I decided after my first night in Bologna that I couldn't travel anymore. I wasn't getting any better with the medicine I was taking and I was seriously thinking there was something wrong with me.

In the end, I made my way to Nuremberg where I stayed at a friend's place to rest for three nights. I was spending half my time in toilets so I decided that it was better to rest somewhere. Travelling just wasn't fun anymore as I was sick, weak and tired. Plus the weather was crap. Not that the weather in Germany was any better than northern Italy but really all I wanted to do was rest. Staying in hostels to rest wasn't the most ideal situation in what wasn't already an ideal situation!

I went to see a doctor the day after I arrived in Nuremberg. It cost an arm and a leg - 70 euros! Faint. I would have gotten the same service for 9 euros back in Singapore. While in Nuremberg I decided that I really wanted to be back in London which was a place I was familiar with and where I had more friends. I was feeling pretty miserable by then. Thanks to a friend who was online at the same time I was at a Net cafe, I managed to find out about possible flights to return to London from Germany. So on the spur of the moment on a Tuesday afternoon, I booked a Ryanair flight to fly out of Frankfurt Hahn airport on a late Wednesday night.

Wednesday was a long trek. I left my friend's place in Nurnberg at 11am. Took the U-bahn to the Hauptbahnhof and had to take a train to Wuerzburg and then transfer trains to get to Frankfurt. I got off at the wrong Frankfurt train stop. Instead of stopping at Frankfurt Main Hbf, I got off at Frankfurt Main Sud. So after making some inquiries, I had to get back onto the S-bahn and make my way to Frankfurt Main Hbf. After arriving there, it was another difficult search to find the bus which would take me to the Frankfurt Hahn airport. The airport is a regional one and is a 1h 45min bus ride from the Frankfurt Hbf. After asking the tourist information, I managed to find the bus. And from there it was another bus ride to Frankfurt Hahn. The flight itself took only an hour. I arrived in London Stansted at about 0030 local time. By the time I got the back into Central London by bus it was around 2am.

It was a lllooooonnnggg day, but I was never more glad to be back in London. Seeing signs in English and speaking English at normal conversational pace seemed to be such a relief.

I also managed to catch my cousin who was holidaying in London and we hung out together for a few days before he flew back to Singapore on Tuesday night. I've also been able to catch up with friends and ex-colleagues and go back to eat at my favourite spots! Yes, I'm back to eating normally again...thank god!

My wallet got stolen while in Borough Market on Saturday. Such a bummer. I lost quite a lot of cash, my Singapore credit cards, my UK debit card and Singapore driver's licence. I'm so jinxed!!!

Anyway, will be hanging around London till next Saturday then I fly to Germany to meet a friend and her boyfriend. After Germany, I'm flying to Japan to spend Christmas and NYE! I can't wait!!!

Posted by DSD at December 7, 2007 11:11 AM