Who's a Mug

12 Apr, 2005 | TravelTdp

I would like to apologise in advance, this turned into something of a rant.



One thing I would like to complain about regarding my apartment at the hotel is that the crockery supplied is somewhat wanting. I like a good cup of tea as I've mentioned before. Let's face it, I'm English, the country wouldn't function without it. Unfortunately, the people who stocked the apartment put cups in, and by cups I mean these little thimble-sized things it isn't worth the effort to drink out of. I have got a good-sized plastic travel mug (nice and light and because it's bright blue, unlikley to get nicked) which I usually bring with me, but as I checked out for my holiday period, I brought it home and left it behind, so I'm forced to drink from the only alternative: a soup dish. Incidentally the only type of bowl available too.

Needless to say, I shall be hitting the shops to replace my soup dish with something a little more appropriate over the weekend.

And continuing with the crockery/food theme, I'd like to complain about two things: crisps and chocolate. I have tried these products in Holland, Canada and the US and been disappointed on all counts. Why? Well, UK crisps and chocolate has flavour! I had a packet of Walkers salt and vinegar crisps while I was home and they were that sharp a third of my tastebuds stopped functioning. I'm waiting for them to grow back before trying another pack. And we have such a big range in both flavours and potato-based snacks, just check out the Walkers range. And that is just one of our crisp makers. And look at this for a range of flavours:



What do you get in Holland (and the US)? Plain, some lame-ass salt and vinegar and cheese and chive. I want some real crips! Walkers could clean up in both countries.

And then we come to chocolate. I'm a big chocolate fan (in both girth and dedication) and it seems to me that Hershey's, the biggest selling chocolate in the US, is designed to be as bland as can be so it appeals to a wider audience. They sell Cabury's in the US, but it's made by Hershey's and tastes awful. In Europe, meanwhile, they tried to get the European court to force Cadbury's to stop calling their product 'chocolate.' The reason was to do with the ingredients, something about the cocoa content if memory serves. Now, as the brits, apparently, invented eating chocolate (I didn't know that, chalk another one up to the Brits, the whole page is an interesting read, read more on Wikipedia), surely we get to say what is and isn't (although the Swiss invented milk chocolate)? Anyway, Cadbury's, my chocolate of choice, far exceeds anything except the finest Belgian and Swiss chocolate, which you can only get in small quantities, not in 1Kg bars! And, again, plenty of flavour. In fact, I had a Cadbury's Creme Egg, which I love. Tucking in I could almost feel it stripping the enamel off my teeth, an enourmous war on a microscopic scale was taking place between my teeth and the half-a-ton of sugar they'd managed to squeeze into a single egg. Why can't you get that sort of thing anywhere?