Saturdays in January are meant for being outside

comments 17
Going Out

StrEAT Food Festival

Winter brings out all the people and all the events here. Especially outdoor events. Something about making the most of all the outdoor time before the heat comes in to kill us all. That’s a tad over dramatic. But trust me, it feels like it.

Even with me still being a touch ill, read more than a touch, I needed some fresh air. Just to be outside. Out of the house. Feel a bit of that sunshine and warmth on my face.

StrEAT Food Festival

The ElBrozi guys working hard on their burgers, which got the thumbs up from me.

Anish and I headed over to the StrEAT Food Festival on Saturday. In my head I’d imagined a Borough Market style affair. With stall after stall of a selection of street food of all kinds. Sometimes I need to give myself a reality check – I’m in Bahrain, not London.

StrEAT Food Festival

Bright, sunny day spent outside. More days like this.

Bahrain has an obsession. A burger obsession. The kind of one that was plaguing London a few years ago. So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise that out of the roughly seventeen stalls, eight of them served mostly burgers. But I was surprised. I like a burger as much as the next person, but apparently not as much as Bahrainis.

StrEAT Food Festival

People watching. It’s not creepy…

There was music. Some entertainment for the kids involving competitions for identifying chocolate. Not sure that was parent approved! It was all for a good cause – Ayadi Relief – I hope they managed to raise a good amount of money.

StrEAT Food Festival

Smile?

Sure it was no Borough Market. There was the tiniest selection of vegetarian food. Burgers as far as your eyes could see. But I was outside. In the sun. In January. When most people are freezing their balls off, suffering through cold wintry weather. I’m here. Outside. With friends. The sun on my back warming my bronchitis away (that was my hope anyway). Screw the search for the better days, or comparing to what could have been. I had a great day. We had a great day. Hoping to pack many more of these before summer kicks in.

PS – Lani, over at Life, the universe and Lani interviewed me as part of her expat bloggers series – go have a read!

17 Comments

  1. Saturdays in January in the UK are for being under a blanket – it’s -2!!

    • That’s bloody freezing! Kind of relieved Christmas was mild, though I was ready with my snood and big coat.

      I miss curling up under a blanket though.

  2. My Saturdays are spent trying to ward off the chill, but we did manage to get out to Somerset House to see the Big Bang Data exhibition which was pretty cool.

  3. I am jealous of your warmth! Although, I’m trying to remind myself how much the cold is worth it this year (being near family again! and seasons!) I love that you’re enjoying it though, and getting out and about. I’d love a food festival right now 🙂

    • Don’t be too jealous, it’ll kick it up a notch soon and we’ll be living in AC city.

      Ahh seasons! I miss seasons. Four actual seasons, which are all identifiable from one another.

  4. Yea! Fresh air! My goodness, you are still sick, eh? That sucks. Hope healthier days are just around the corner. Thanks for the mention. And thanks again for agreeing to do the interview!

    • Haven’t had a single fully healthy day of 2016 yet – looking forward to when that finally happens! Soon, soon!

    • Wish for the Mexican food wave to make its way here – that’s one type of food I really miss. Great Mexican food.

  5. A bit of sun on your face makes most things bright and shiny. Typing that with jeans soaked to the knee and mud splattered on my face from an excited spaniel – I’ve never meant anything more in my life!

    Hope you keep getting better!

  6. Ah a Food Festival that is all about the burgers is definitely my kind of festival. Although I’ve had to ease up on my burger intake lately as I may have overdone it these past few weeks… ha! Also your expat interview has me dreaming of what it would be like to relocate now that I’m an “adult”. I could start small and move to Edinburgh… 🙂

    • You never know until you try! I didn’t think I could ever move anywhere outside of London. Crazy what happens in life sometimes 🙂

      • Haha true. If I ever take the plunge I will be sure to document it as further proof to myself that I did it because I know I will still be doubting the fact.

  7. moviesandsongs365

    I like burgers too, although it is sad fast food chains are everywhere. I was on holiday in Spain in Jan so for once I was able to enjoy warmer weather in the winter like you. Not THAT warm, but still 20-22 degrees. Malaga are known for their seafood restaurants and the shrimp is so much tastier from there. I’ll check out the ex-pat interview!

    • Fast food chains are everywhere here. In fact I could walk for about 10-15 minutes and get to some of the most well known fast food chains from the US and UK. They love them here. Kind of sad really!

      20-22 is nice – I’d love to go back to Spain one day, it’s been so long!

Leave a Reply to JainaCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.