November 3, 2008 The food. I believe that I have eaten more in the last three days, than I did all of last week. On both my flights here (Geneva-Istanbul-Jeddah) I was served dinner on the airplane, which was a refreshing change from the US airlines where you get a bag of peanuts and a glas of orange juice. Not knowing what to expect when I arrived, I ate them both : ) Yesterday, we had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel, standard international faire. Cereal, yogurt, breads, pastries, they even had omelets which I thought would be nice not knowing when and what we would have for lunch. I consider myself to be an average international traveller, considerate and observing, but by no means "seasoned", which is why I was quite embarassed after I ordered my omelette with cheese, mushrooms, and ham. After all, we are in Saudi Arabia, one of the most Islamic countries in the world, why on earth would they have ham here! Too late, the waiter had already gone, but to my relief he returned with the omelet with small chunks of ham. I ate it humbly, after all, this is why we travel.
Since then, I have eaten grilled meats and drank Saudi Champagne (a fruit juice cocktail) in an Iranian restaurant (the Indian guy we were with told me that it would help to improve US relations with Iran), shrimp and assorted Lebanese delicacies at a very nice restaurant on the beaches of the Red Sea, spicy Indian food, and we capped it off last night with a trip to Dunkin Donuts : ). Breakfast is typically included with the hotel and is a large buffet with foods from all over, but this morning I have settle for a glass of fresh orange juice, coffee, and a bowl of Cocoa Crispies.
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