Taking a break from hunting for Osama bin Laden, the awardwinning film-maker shares his passion for exploring Venice and, strangely, eating London’s fast food

“I’M always a big believer in spoiling yourself on vacation and worrying about it later, and for me that means splashing out on good meals – you’re always the better for it. To really experience another country and its culture, you have to dive into the food. I love visiting the UK, especially London, because it means I can indulge in some fish and chips, although I try not to eat too much fast food.

“There’s something very sensual about a great meal. When my wife, Alex, was in culinary school, she went over to Italy to do an internship at a restaurant in Milan. I flew over to meet her, and for 12 days we travelled around visiting restaurants and museums in Rome, Venice and Florence. It was probably the best vacation I’ve ever had.

“When you’re in Italy, you can go to the tiniest hole-in-the-wall restaurant and the food will be amazing. Everywhere we went there was great food, great wine and incredible architecture. It all felt so old-world, especially in Venice. When you arrive it’s strange because suddenly there’s water everywhere, and you’re like: ‘What just happened?’ You’re on a whole other planet where nothing feels real – it’s almost like a dream. Alex and I had only been going out for 10 months at the time and were completely crazy about each other. So when you’re there and you’re smitten with someone, it’s just like pouring gas on that big love fire.

“Alex and I decided to get married a couple of years ago. I’d always wanted to go to Tavarua Island in Fiji, so I sent an email to my family and friends, saying: ‘We’re going here to get married. If you want to come, good luck!’ The only people who ended up coming were my best friend from childhood, his wife and their baby. We got married on the beach at sunset, with surfers singing and playing their ukuleles for us.

“Before the big day, we went to a village on the island called Nabila, where we got to meet the locals. It was here that we met Chief Druku, who ended up being the witness at our wedding. So it happened that Dave Stacy from West Virginia was my best man, but the witness was Chief Druku of the village of Nabila – which is pretty awesome.”

INTERVIEW: SIAN THATCHER
Morgan spurlock’s latest film, where in the world is osama bin laden? Is out on dvd 1 september.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 3:07 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.