Tag Archives: Coffee

A Short Stop in the Eternal City, Rome, Italy

As generally happens over an extended holiday, some days are better than others and I would have to say the latter few days in the UK and Ireland were not the best of our trip. Pouring rain to greet and farewell us in The Lake District, high winds in Wales, a cancelled ferry and then no cabs at the ferry terminal in Dublin when we eventually arrived had made for a less than ideal few days, but that was all about to change!

As we flew along the Italian Coast, I felt an uplift in spirit and a regret that we had not scheduled more time in Rome before going home, but getting bathroom renovations completed before Christmas and my PhD meant we needed to be home.

With only a couple of days in Rome, all we could do was enjoy a coffee or two, some gelato, pasta an Aperol Spritz (perhaps more than one) and the chaos that is Rome. Just wonderful.

The weather was bright for our arrival. Flying into Rome the country side was so different to what we’d seen in the previous  6 weeks. The patchwork quilt of green replaced by the grey browns of a countryside that has experienced a Mediterranean Summer and a bright blue big sky.

Once on the ground we were through immigration in no time Continue reading

Why do we do this?

Gran Caffe Gambrinus -Naples

Gran Caffe Gambrinus -Naples

If we were having coffee I would ask you why do you write your blog?

Is it in the hope that you’ll make your fortune, that someone will actually read and like it, or some other reason?

As I was sitting at coffee this morning I was asking myself these very questions. This was in part because I was surprised that almost no one had viewed my post on Record Store Day.  Sipping my flat white, I asked myself why it mattered? Normally I’m not fussed because my blog although public was more an outlet for me to meet a goal I set myself of writing a thousand words a month as I planned for “What’s Next” . I worked out early that there was no fortune to be made with www.browney237.com!

As I reflected on this, I realised that my post on Record Store Day had been written from a different perspective to many of my other posts. Continue reading

So,  how do you order a coffee?

Duomo - Milan

Duomo – Milan

One of the joys of Italy is coffee, particularly if you know how to order it!

After two days my desire for a decent coffee has seen me get

  • an Americano, when I wanted a long black
  • a glass of white wine, when I wanted a white coffee
  • an espresso because my favourite person couldn’t get the waiter to understand macchiato.

All of this is of course our fault because we can’t speak Italian and when we try the results are hilarious.

However, the last straw was making a dinner reservation last night for two “due”, to which the restaurant  queried whether my booking was for “three” or “twelve”. Clearly I have some work to do!

In frustration, I have now downloaded the Google Translate App which has been successful in me being able to ask where the toilet (gabinetto) was and actually making them understand! This is progress, Continue reading

More Berlin

Having covered so many sights on our first day we decided on a leisurely next couple of days.

This was certainly helped by morning visits to the gym and watching the previous days highlights of the Tour de France as well as quite surprisingly finding that Foxtel Go worked on my iPad and iPhone.

Late breakfasts in the Wintergarten Coffee Shop, a new leader in the best coffee stakes, were also part of our leisurely starts to the day.

Whilst walking through Berlin we had become fascinated with the painted fibre glass bears that were spread throughout the city.

Continue reading