Bland but Bubbly

Upon returning from Europe this summer (the first time I had visited my husband's family in four years there, thanks to schooling and visas (my husband's...not mine) and lack of money), I found myself having a hankering for something that I never expected to even like: sparkling water. The first time I tried the bubbly stuff, over five years ago, I thought I would spit it right back out again.  I'm not sure why - I suppose just because I never had had it before, and I somehow subconsciously associated it with carbonated anything (my midwestern mind was thinking 'oh sure, like coke!') - I was expecting something sweet and...well, something with flavor.  Any flavor. Even a little bit of flavor.  Heck, even a bad flavor.  What I got was a mouthful of fizzy wetness.  Fizzy, yes, but totally bland fizziness.  I drank as much as I could and made sure to practice my pronunciation of 'flat' in my less-than-perfect accent. But this time around, I decided to give it another go.  I had a fourth of a cup at one meal.  I upgraded to a half a cup at another.  I added a zest of lemon at a party.  I suddenly liked it.  I suddenly liked it a lot.  I suddenly felt the need to pout just a bit internally when someone was turning the bubbly water bottle upside-down at lunch, getting the last drops of it, and all that was left was my boring flat.  Flat water was suddenly like slightly grainy reception after I had been watching clear, crisp, digital genius on a screen.  

And suddenly here I am, back in the States, in the midst of August heat at its best, my cup of flat, iced water sweating out of its glass next to my computer, and remembering that time a European friend asked nonchalantly for sparkling water at a restaurant here in the city and got a very confused look from the waitress who said abruptly "oh, we don't serve that."  Yet, I also distinctly remember, mid-planning for a fancy party at work, someone suggesting that we serve 'bubbly water.'  My ears perked up.  I may just have to stick a little bit more closely by the buffet table for that shin-dig.  If it's got a snobby reputation in the U.S., then call me highfalutin' and leave me to my bubbles.