Where In The World Is Sum1?

I Spent A Week In Albany One Day....

Date: Week of February 5^th


Locale:  Albany, New York


         The class in Albany was not a hard class to teach.  Getting there was a different story.  It's February, Winter Storms abound.  I drove to the airport Monday morning, arriving pretty early really.  While waiting in the terminal, I received a notification that my flight to Albany was cancelled, and I had been re-booked on a later flight.  About an hour later, I received another notification that my 'new' flight had also been cancelled.  I called American Express and was booked on a flight to LaGuardia in NYC, and would drive 2.5 hours to Albany from there.  The day got better after that.  My flight to Chicago was an hour late, so I had to rush through the B-Concourse of O'Hare.  I arrived at my departure gate for LaGuardia in time to see them backing the jet bridge away from the aircraft.  I want to note that the original arrival gate for my flight was right near this gate, so if we'd pulled in to that gate, I'd have been on time.  But, I was late, so was re-booked on a 2pm flight to LaGuardia.  This flight was also delayed, leaving at 3:30 instead of 2 pm.  We arrived at LaGuardia about 6:30.  This would have been fine, at an airport not undergoing a massive reconstruction.  The area around LaGuardia is a nightmare to get around in.  Every road in or out of the airport is temporary, signs for travelers, such as rental car locations, are hard to find.  And in my humble opinion, the way things are set up there are absolutely crazy.  There are three buses that provide transportation around the terminals.  To get to the rental cars, you have to catch a certain one (the Green one if I remember correctly).  This takes you right past the rental car area, and drops you off at a different location, where you catch a second bus for your rental car company.  Is it just me, or does that sound crazy to you as well?  Anyway, I finally had a car, and was out of the airport about 90 minutes later.  Why so long?  Even though I had remembered to have my luggage re-tagged so it would show up in LaGuardia with me, that didn't happen.  The luggage never got re-tagged.  I  had to wait until all the luggage was out, then file my lost luggage complaint with United.  By now, it was 8pm, and I had that 2.5 hour drive to Albany.  That was the easiest part of my day.


         As I briefly mentioned, the class itself went well, though I will admit I was rusty with this course, having not taught it since June of last year.  All in all though, I felt it went well, it seemed to be received well by the students also, and I left there ready to get home.  Once again though, travel delays were an issue.  I couldn't leave Thursday night as scheduled, due to another snowstorm hitting Chicago.  I was rescheduled for an early departure Friday morning.  Three flight cancellations later, 4 flight delays, 3 changes to my itinerary, and 15 hours later, I finally arrived home! 


Noteworthy Restaurants:


         Barcelona Restaurant-Wine Bar          http://www.barcelona-albany.com/dinner-menu/  I love Spanish food, it's so interesting, and so different from Mexican food.  I also love Paella, and this place had it!  However, there were other dishes on the menu I hadn't tried before, and ended up having them.  The food was excellent, enough so that it brought my back a second night!

                   The first night there, I chose this entree.  Pez Espada Romesco - Sautéed in olive oil & garlic. Bite sized cubes of swordfish, whole clams, green peppers, fresh tomatoes, onions, white beans, tomato sauce & roasted almonds. Served over saffron rice

                   The second night there, I decided on this.  Zuppa di Pesce - Clams, mussels, scallops, calamari, shrimp & lobster sautéed in olive oil & garlic, in a seafood-tomato broth with toast points. Served hot, medium, or mild.  I chose mine medium, which was very tasty, and not too spicy at all.  I have to go back to Albany to try other entree's!

         Reel Seafood          http://www.reelseafoodco.com/menu/dinner    Being one who loves seafood, this was a natural choice to dine.  I didn't have a meal though, I chose to have a couple of smaller plates.

                   Angry Shrimp Roll - Spicy crunchy fried shrimp, sticky rice, red pepper, scallions, sambal cream cheese with ponzu dipping sauce.  This was a roll, like Sushi, but not rolled up.  It seemed to be rolled up and crusted, but didn't have the layers from being rolled over and over.  Didn't matter to me, it was still excellent.

                   Beet Carpaccio & Fried Goat Cheese - Thinly sliced roasted beets topped with balsamic dressed baby arugula & crispy goat cheese croquette.    For some reason, I've recently had the urge for Beets.  It's not a great urge, more like a desire.  Whatever the case may be, this Beet Salad sounded scrumptious, and it was! 


         I am home for the weekend, before heading out next week.  I think travel will be much the same as last week, since Chicago is supposed to get more snow Monday.  My destination is colder too, so we'll see how things go.  Maybe I can actually get out and snap a couple of photo's....  Maybe a Trinket from one?  We'll see.  Winter is here full force, y'all stay warm.  Down under, it's the heat of Summer.  Stay cool!  Whatever you do, keep writing!