Who's afraid of the big bad C-Tran?

When they named Atlanta's metro system, one feels they were somewhat generous in their use of adjectives. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transport Authority (MARTA) would more appropriately be called MALTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Leisurely Transport Authority). And it's a shame, because if people didn't feel the necessity to drive everywhere and used public transport more often, the service might be much better. I've lost count of how many quarters I've lost to the token machines... but as it is, public transportation, and buses in particular, remain a low income form of tranportation (in contrast to London, where running a car often actually works out cheaper....)

I'm telling you this because I tried getting to Spivey Hall yesterday without a car. Spivey Hall is one of the best new chamber concert venues in the US, largely the result of a donation by Emilie Parmalee Spivey and Walter Boone Spivey, an orthodontist who made millions on real estate. The hall is situated on the campus of Clayton State University, south of Atlanta (incidentally, the campus is beautiful). It turns out, however, that nobody I asked about Spivey Hall actually knew what the heck it was, or how to get there. I was kindly given directions down the I75 at the hotel, but not having a car, they weren't all that useful to me. So I opted for taking the MARTA down to the airport (easy enough), and trying for a cab. Of course, I couldn't find a cab driver who knew how to get there, and the information desk at the airport tried to send me back up to Georgia Tech, despite my assurances that Spivey Hall was at Clayton State. After much enquiry, I managed to find out that C-Tran, the Clayton County Bus Service, runs the 501 to Clayton State, a true bargain at $1.50 for a 25 minute bus ride. Eventually I got to the hall and got to talking with the hall's manager about how inconvenient it was to get there, to which she responded in a not entirely unpatronizing tone: "Well, good for you, for comin' out here and being brave enough to get on the MARTA and the C-Tran all by yourself!" which didn't so much fill me with confidence...... especially since I had to go back the same way. But it was actually quite a nice bus ride. A little intimidating going by yourself if you haven't done it before, but I wish more people would do it. Although with only one service an hour, it's not exactly convenient.

That, of course, wasn't the end of my transportation woes. I grabbed a cab back in Atlanta to go to Sylvia's restaurant on 241 Central Avenue. Of course, the poor guy had no clue where Central Avenue was. Thankfully, I thought, I'd brought a map, although the guy didn't seem like he knew how to read one of those either and we spent a half hour going in circles around the Capitol and MLK Drive before we decided to give up on the idea. Good thing he didn't charge me, as I later found out that Sylvia's had actually closed down..... so I opted for the Pacific Rim Bistro instead, on 303 Peachtree Center Avenue. It has a modern take on Asian dishes, and the sushi's not bad either. The yellowtail sashimi's particularly good.

Fried tofu bags with shitaki, scallions and mozarella

Salmon, tuna, yellowtail sashimi, nigiri and California rolls

No room for dessert sadly!