The Travel Diva

Customer services

I have a mean streak running through my veins when it comes to money, I've even been likened to being as tight as a crab's arse, so don't try to rip me off! Which is what I should have said when I was handed my check for coffee.

Picture the scene: I went into Brussels city centre to photograph the 'cafe society' for a US coffee journal I'm writing for. This of coures requires that I order some coffee (to photograph) and eventually consume.

At the first cafe the waiter brings me a luke-warm espresso, even though I asked for a latte. I found this mildly irritating not least because if you're paying three euros for a cup of coffee you would at least expect it in a cup, not a thimble! As God is my witness, I took it down in one swig!

I stalked off in search of a different setting and a latte and headed towards the Grand Platz. My excitement was short lived when I saw my latter approach as it too was luke warm. But management felt this offering deserved a price tag of five euros. Five Euros, I kid you not! These are the kinds of prices you pay in the tourist trap areas!

My favourite coffee shop in the whole world is in Antwerp where I've become a regular. Coffee is a religion here you see and you're handed a little quartet of coffee, cream, chocolate and if the little chap who runs the place isn't around, my waiter substitutes these ingredients with a little sliver of apple pie and skimmed milk. He understands that I am doomed to a life of eternal dieting. A trip to this little coffee mecca (CafeNation in Hoplandstraat) is worth every mile of forty five I need to travel to get there.

In fact I am taking my teenage daughter there tomorrow night (she loves watching them make hot chocolate = a slab of chocolate placed in a large cup and filled with steaming hot milk), before I interview touring rock bands 69 Eyes and Wednesday 13. Such devine coffee... such devine musicians.

Labels: 69 Eyes, alternative lifestyle, Antwerp, Audi A8, Belgian chocolate, Belgian Coffee, Cafenation, espresso, Grand Plaz, Hoplandstraat, latte, Wednesday 13

posted by Cindy-Lou Dale @ Friday, August 03, 2007