I Have No Idea What To Title This Post So This Will Have To Do
Coffee. Not to-go. Croatia
Twenty years ago (yes, a long, long time ago), I was studying in Austria.
One weekend, my friend and I had to run errands.
Before running our errands, we wanted to get a cup of coffee. But we did not want to sit at a cafe.
We wanted our coffee to go.
While coffee-to-go was already a way of life for us in North America, we knew we might not have the same luck in a small town in Austria. But we tried anyway.
In her best German, my friend went into a restaurant and asked the bartender if they had coffee to go.
The bartender looked at her and replied: To go where?
D’Oh.
Later that year, that same friend and I spent a few days exploring Bologna, Italy.
On our first morning, we made our way to the nearest cafe, and in an attempt to order in Italian, I asked for a latte.
A few minutes later, the waitress brought a cup of milk with a piece of chocolate on the side.
I look at it, baffled.
It was early. I felt out of it. And I didn’t understand why she brought me a cup of milk.
Maybe there was caffeine in the chocolate, and I was supposed to drop the chocolate in the milk.
Yes, that did cross my mind.
I proceeded to call the waitress over and tell her I ordered a latte. This was just milk.
She replied: yes, latte is milk in Italian.
D’Oh.
These two coffee stories served as my lesson in cultural awareness. Or, at the very least, my lesson in coffee culture awareness.
A lesson that starts with this important reminder: Just because you do it that way in your country doesn’t mean we do it here.
Twenty years ago, if you walked into a Starbucks in North America and ordered a latte to-go, you were handed a caffè latte in a paper cup. And you went on your merry way.
Twenty years ago, that wasn’t the case in some parts of Europe. You ordered a caffè latte, sat your butt down, and enjoyed it in the cafe—no coffee to-go option.
Today, the coffee-to-go option is available in many places throughout the world. I don’t know if there is a place where it isn’t an option.
But I would love to believe there are places in the world that will not serve you coffee to-go.
Enjoying a cup of coffee in Makarska, Croatia
What’s my point?
I was reminded of these two coffee incidents while sitting at my neighbourhood cafe this morning in Makarska.
An Australian sitting at the table next to me asked for an Iced Americano. The waitress politely told the Australian they did not serve Iced Americanos.
The Australian understood and ordered a regular coffee.
No harm. No foul.
But the scene reminded me that we sometimes get so caught up in our habits/routines/ways of life that even when we travel and aim to explore other places, we tend to seek out our comforts.
And why wouldn’t we? They are our comforts.
But the scene also served as a reminder that sometimes getting out of our comfort zone or changing our habits could lead to something wonderful.
It could lead to us falling in love with a new type of coffee.
Or even a new way of life.
Huh.
Yes, somehow, I went from coffee to life.
I’ve included an IG post from JOSHUA CIRJAK (@joshuacirjak). Here he pokes a little fun at the difference between an American ordering coffee and a Croatian ordering coffee. Enjoy.
A few days ago, the plan was to make pizza dough.