i’ve been in central america for almost two weeks, and haven’t seen much of the new year from anywhere but here. it’s hard to know where to start - i’m tempted to jump right in and say it’s been a great trip, but that wouldn’t be quite true. i am writing from under a thick duvet in guatemala city because i’m getting a cold, and before that, i got really sick with some eye bacteria that travelled with me from honduras to guatemala, and the last week has been exhausting. although it’s mostly been fun, even when sick, so there’s that.
one of the reasons i had a delightful time, has been that i got to spend the week with one of my favorite people in the entire world. yes, there are many of you, but ryan is really one of those friends i can blab with for hours about things i can’t tell anyone else. today, after a long morning of cupping coffees, we ended up at margherita in guatemala city for…pizza and prosecco cocktails. i had a bellini and ryan an aperol spritzer, which i immediately wished i had ordered myself.
i first tasted aperol probably not much more than one year ago, in san francisco, for my first classic aperol spritzer. i usually like bitter drinks, but one dark december saturday afternoon, colleen and i ordered aperol cocktails in brooklyn, and the bartender went temporarily insane and made us the most bitter drinks i’ve ever tasted. for a moment, i thought aperol wasn’t for me after all. but i knew it was good for something, and back in vancouver for christmas, my bartender friend christopher made me some delicious cocktail which name i do not remember, but basically, aperol and i are back on. the aperol spritzer is fizzy and bitter, but the bitterness is measured, fragrant and almost sweet. i think it is the perfect saturday afternoon cocktail, just prosecco, aperol and soda.
