The Odyssey

I watched The Odyssey and was literally in awe at every scene. Now I am jealous of everyone who has not seen it yet, because they still get to have that magical experience for the first time.

But bear with me, because I have questions.

Was Calypso a goddess? Was the Cyclops a god? Did the Trojan War actually happen? How much of this was Greek history, how much was mythology, and how much was Christopher Nolan combining both?

Bear with me… I have questions

Calypso was a goddess, but the Lotus-Eaters were a completely separate stop in Homer’s version. In Nolan’s version, I really want to know what Odysseus was eating, because whatever it was looked like a four-to-seven-year wild trip. The Cyclops was not a god, but he was Poseidon’s son, which is why blinding him became a much larger problem.

Troy was a real city, and some conflict probably happened there. The exact ten-year war, Helen causing it, the wooden horse, Odysseus, and all of the gods and monsters are not verified history. The story had already been told and retold for centuries before Nolan got to it.

None of this made me like the movie less. It just gave me more questions. A lot more!

Since my last edition, I have also been moving around a lot, drinking too much wine, and asking questions after the fact.

Taking the odyssey to Napa

After a Bloody Mary at breakfast and champagne at Rolex, we headed to Napa Valley. I drink hella wine already. In Napa, I was paying more attention to why I liked one tasting more than another.

We went to Aum Cellars and AXR. Aum was definitely my favorite. To me, it felt more authentic, more personable, less salesy, and the wine was better.

Pete was AMAZING. He was so knowledgeable and fun, and very, very genuine. That was the whole answer.

900 tomatoes later

There was more wine at dinner. The next morning, I was HUNGOVER BIG TIME for the French Laundry Culinary Garden Tour.

The garden grows more than 150 varieties of fruits, vegetables, microgreens, and flowers, and we tasted so many of them. My version is that I tasted what felt like 900 tomatoes.

My favorite was the mochi tomato, that cute tiny yellow one. It was delish :)

After the garden, we had lunch at Ad Hoc, where everything was served family-style. It was great, but I was low on energy lmao.

Then we drove back to San Francisco to relax, watch movies, drink more wine, and eat a charcuterie board.

Back in Sao Paulo

Then I flew to Sao Paulo.

I arrived with monster jet lag and started working immediately.

I am staying at the Rosewood, which I had no clue would be this impressive. I went to lunch at Lavva with my brother and a friend. It is a Korean barbecue and Brazilian churrasco restaurant inside Cidade Matarazzo, a short walk from the hotel.

At lunch, they asked whether I wanted them to speak English with me.

These days, I feel less pressure speaking English than Brazilian Portuguese anyway, so I said sure, whatever.

Odysseus spent ten years trying to get home. I made it back to Sao Paulo and, at lunch on day one, said yes when someone asked if I would rather speak English.

Bear with me, because I still have questions.

If you also left the movie with questions, send this to the person you argued about it with. And if you know what Odysseus was eating, please report back.