Another Day in Paradise (well, apart from some TMI..)

Have been out on catamaran most the day snorkeling etc - it was kinda of an accident, I was debating whether to go or not when I was talked into it by a cute Irish guy (so no change there!!) In the event it was a bit of a game of two halves - cloudless sky, turquoise water, fantastic sunny weather but a fair bit of swell - which 7 miles out on the reef, translated into my first experience of tumultuous ocean snorkelling - not QUITE as peacefully tranquil as I recalled it from Oz.. I think I have been rather ruined by Australia's untouched island reeves and bath-warm windless waters (not to mention prescription snorkel masks, which I've never had elsewhere) but still - snorkelling is always good and I think I saw a very small shark as well as a lot of gorgeous iridescent blue things (need fish book!) and the usual parrot fish etc. One odd thing was that we were warned not to swallow sea water or we'd be sick - well anyone who's snorkelled , especially in swelling seas, knows you ALWAYS`end up swallowing sea at some point and it's not nice, but it's never hurt me before. Well - this time , it, er, did. Luckily I'd eaten almost nothing :( So that was weird. Anyone know if there;s anything special in the water down Keys way??

This slightly put a downer on my ingestion of the free booze on the way back, but on dry ground I felt way better so I went off to finally sample key lime pie at the Rooftop restaurant. Where I fell into conversation with two incredibly gorgeous (her, sorta Julia Roberts c Notting Hill; him Brad Pitt meets Antonio Banderas) uber rock star people from Austin TX who also ran a vocal talent and digital music studio. They just emailed me to ask if we could meet up before i lefttoo (we exchanged cards). Why doesn't this happen in the UK? Why did this have to happen when I looked like I'd been dragged through a catamaran backwards? I wonder if they were up for a threesome if I hadn't run off to see the sunset though (hey it is Key West!*sigh*)

Then on via a brief spot of shopping to a randomly chosen Cuban diner (great live Brazilian type music) , where oh joy! I had STUFFED tostones (was any vegetable, well, fruit, ever better made to soak up saturated fat!), stuffed with a sample of 4 typical Cuban stews - pork asado, vieja ropa and a sort of sweet beef with raisins stew - all very yummy indeed. This, it should be said, was an APPETISER - and left me unable to move for about £5. Dropped into Sloppy Joes again, staggered home through thye drifting hers of gorgeous gay men.

The ambience of Key West at spring break is something quite marvellous - a cross between the Edinburgh festival, a summer festival in amazingly good weather and a Worldcon fanroom. Every bar`has free live music, every shop is open till 10 or midnight, almost everyone is on holiday fleeing the Northern cold. People amble Duval amiably, drinks in plastic glasses in their hands but with not a hint of animosity. Bars invite customers in, while warning that apparel is not required. Comedians make jopkes at 7pm about bull dykes and fellating sheep. This on what looks like a respectable 19th century street also lined with Banana Republic and Starbucks. I can't imagine how unlikely this must be to the people here from Alabama or rural Mass or Mexico (let alone downtown Edinburgh.)

I can see why one of the local authored books is "How to Give Up YOur Job and Move to Key West"