Sazz In The City: The Nostalgia Tour 2024

And so begins what is to be a whirlwind of travel for the next 5 weeks. First stop, the UK. First time back since the wedding and certainly the first completely non-work trip.

And I have some questions.

OK, UK. Just when did all the trucks get so damned tall? Super tall and skinny. What's that all about?? Driving along the M25 yesterday (ah, I've missed you), both Matt and I instinctively ducked when we saw one of these improbable tower block on wheels go under a motorway bridge. Have I just gotten shorter and they now seem bigger by comparison? (the inverse of the grown-up Wagon Wheel disappointment).

I also would like to know when the cars started getting such dumb names? Back in my day (OK, boomer), cars had sensible - or at least decipherable - names. Vauxhall Cavalier. Ford Fiesta. Ford Escort. Ones that vaguely alluded to a car's primary (transport) or secondary (pleasure) function. Now, its all Juke this and Mokka that. What's that all about? And don't get me started on the Nissan Qashqai. Does anyone else read that as "Cashcow" or is it just me? Sigh.

I will say, though, that overall the traffic feels way more polite here than back home in the US. I know many of you will probably disagree with me strongly here but, in general, people do actually use all the lanes of the road (sorry - carriageway) as the Traffic Gods intended. I used my indicator light way more often than usual as I zipped from left to right and back again (check me out - remembering the correct side of the road to drive on and all that!). I only got honked at twice so that, in my book, is an absolute result.

My next question - is Pizza Express still cool? Was it ever? (I remember when it first opened in Cambridge - it was considered a bit of a hot spot and the place to go for a date). I'm wondering how well its held up over the last 20yrs and how it survived AndrewGate. We were there for an early lunch after having driven from Heathrow to Banbury (ManpanionTM was taking the opportunity to visit one of his customers), so we had a classic Margarita pizza and some arancini. It was tasty enough but leads to another question - is there a limit to the thin-ness of a thin crust pizza before its really stretching the definition of the genre (no pun intended). It was actually a technological marvel of edible engineering - having wrestled with a few pizza doughs in my time, getting these bad boys flattened out to the right shape and thickness, without either gaping holes or bit bobbly bits, is Not Easy. I have no idea how Pizza Express manages to get their crust to a 3mm thick perfect disc AND then pile it with cheese, get it into the oven to bake AND get it back out again un-mangled. It really is quite impressive.

Banbury Pizza Express, down by the (brown) canal.

BREAKING NEWS for the FLAT EARTH SOCIETY!! Get yourself over to Ipswich right now! According to the in-car GPS map in our BMW Series 1, the answers you seek are just ahead!! See picture below if you don't believe me....

Another observation - after a long day of traveling and driving yesterday, I could tell almost to the minute when my Secret aluminum-free deodorant broke its promise of Working Hard For You. 6.02pm local time. And, I might add, it was not the full 24hrs of coverage that had been guaranteed, btw, Proctor and Gamble marketing peeps. Even my odor resistant Woolx long sleeved top was struggling by the end of the long drive from Banbury to Wivenhoe (3hrs so long by UK standards, not US standards!).

That said, we did stop for a pee break and some snacks en route - as luck would have it, the service station had an M&S Foods, which felt like a treat - so I oo'ed and ah'ed over all those lovely baked goods that M&S is just sooo good at. I don't know what it is about Marks and Spencer, but it seems to be very adept at activating my nostalgia senses. I end up wandering round the store just feeling, well, fond of everything, as I stock up on cotton-lycra blend knickers (5 pack). As there was no underwear on offer at this particular establishment, I was fairly restrained and ended up just getting some hot cross buns - but I've got my eye on you, Millionaire Shortbread. You and I are gonna be hanging out by the end of the trip, that's for sure. I don't know if most services now have a M&S, but I LIKE IT. As ManpanionTM astutely pointed out while chomping through a bag of prawn cocktail crisps "they have the best road snacks". Yes. Yes, they do.

Our itinerary in the UK is a bit of a whirlwind, hitting some (but not all) of the highlights from my 30yrs or so here, pre US invasion. We are spending the first few days visiting Dad (yay for Essex!) and also Thomas and his wife, before heading down to Cornwall for my first return visit in over 30 yrs!! Then back to Cambridge and hanging out at my old alma mater, Downing College, before pootling off to Paris via the Eurostar and onwards to Slovenia. So lots to look forward to that I shall do my best to keep you updated on.

Things are off to a good start - we are staying at a fairly modern pub/restaurant in Wivenhoe (about 15mins away from Dad) at a place called The Flag (yes, we Brits love our flags). We arrived just after 7.30pm, dumped our stuff in the room and quickly headed straight back down for dinner before exhaustion could overtake us. I had a perfectly servicable baked potato with yummy toppings - but ManpanionTM lucked out with a truly spectacular chicken pie, paired with a decent local beer (warm and bitter, he said - just how he likes his women - grrr). Suitably well fed and watered (I had availed myself of the Pornstar Martini), we eventually staggered off to bed, for some well overdue zzz's.