Saturday started out as a lazy day. Michaela and I motivated ourselves to get up and get to work because we had big plans to make a gourmet meal from her new vegetarian cookbook. We spent the morning chopping, cutting sautéing and measuring for our dish. The measuring was tricky because the recipes are in grams, milliliters, etc. Fortunately her measuring cups had the equivalents noted on the bottom. The special for the day was Mushroom Ragu with Homemade Croutons and a Pouched Egg. It turned out delish and it was paired nicely with a glass of Sauvignon Blac from the Marlborough region. Our dish looked exactly like the picture in the book! Not too shabby…we are now waiting for a call from the Food Network…waiting, waiting…
Michaela had a wedding to go to on Saturday so; I was on my own for the rest of the day – well kind of. Her mom and I “crashed” the wedding ceremony. We snuck in the back of the church to see the bride. We wanted to see her brother all dressed up, but he was too far away. After the “crashing”, I headed to Te Papa, the main museum in Wellington. It’s filled with so many wonderful facts and pieces from the Maori culture. I wish I had been more in the “museum” mood. I just wasn’t. I walked around a bit, but just couldn’t do it. I took the train back to Michaela’s, hung out for a while got and then...got ready for SALSA!
Karoline, my new friend that I met in Taupo, and I had made plans to meet up in Wellington on Saturday night. I had researched Salsa dancing in New Zealand and there is a club called Estadio just off Courtneay Place. We met up, went out for a drink on the famous Cuba Street and headed to the club. The club was great, not too big and no cover charge. The live band was excellent. This was the first time I’ve gone salsa dancing where he majority of people are NOT Latin. It was truly and international salsa party – people from China, Sri Lanka, Kiwis, Brazil, Ukraine, Germany…a melting pot of salseros. There was definitely crow of “regulars” that go to this club. I danced with a guy that grabbed me and said “just follow” – ah, OK. We ended up doing this salsa sequence with 2 other couples. The three couples make a circle and you dance moves with your partner then he turns you and you switch partners – it was so fun! Karoline had fun too. She now wants to take lessons. I had no intention of staying out that late. I ended up running to catch a cab to the train station so I wouldn’t miss the last train of the night back to Petone. Salsa dancing in Wellington – check!
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