Starbucks

If you were wondering whether there is a Starbucks here the answer is no and truth be told, I'm not sure if it would be successful.  There is a cafe on just about every corner here, most are independent, stand-alone shops that feature lovely coffee drinks and scrumptious desserts and there is also a strong chain - Coffee House that is on every other block. This cafe, Coffee House, has a very extensive coffee, tea, and drink menu - they make shakes and juice drinks as well (and of course you can get alcohol), and they also offer a small selection of cakes / desserts, plus ice-cream.  To top it off they have a quick lunch menu - think soup and sandwich.  It's really good, so far I've had a pot of tea, a cappuccino, and a lunch consisting of mushroom soup and chicken salad sandwich.  I do still find it odd that everything is more expensive then beer / wine.  I had a glass of wine today at lunch (shhh) that was 19 in local currency (about $2.75 USD) and a cappuccino on the way to work and it was 38 local currency ($5.50).  Take my word for it, I enjoyed the wine more.

But back to Starbucks.... the culture here is not a go go go culture like back home where everyone is racing through Starbucks to get their morning jolt of coffee; coffee and the cafe experience is to be enjoyed, and yes there is Free Wi-Fi everywhere.  Coffee House does do "coffee to go" but it still takes a while to get it, they'd much rather you sit and stay, relax, enjoy.  For Starbucks to hit it off, it would need to focus on it's ability to fill your order fast so if you want it to go, you can get it and go.  That's my opinion anyway, because this morning I would have been happy to get my cappuccino to go and been in and out of the "Starbucks" in five minutes vs. the twenty that it did take me.

Even though I've been going on an on about how long and relaxed the meals are here, which is a good thing for your digestion, there is one fast food craze here that Paul and I just had to go and explore today.  We went to Pizzeria 33 (oh my the risotto and wine there are fabulous) and on our way back we wanted to go by this place that we've seen a couple of times that is nothing more then a hole in the wall but has a queue all the way up the block.  We've been advised not to eat "off the streets" but given how long and steady the line is for this place (no matter the day or time) I think we're going to have to line up one day and wait.  From what we can tell, it's like a hot dog and costs about $1 USD.  Maybe on the weekend if they're open and we have more time to waste we can give it a try.

By the way, on top of the seafood risotto and glass of wine I had at lunch I splurged and got dessert - I was useless for the rest of the day.  Could have gone back to the hotel and had a nap.