- You say kaffe, I say coffee

Food and drink is always fun when traveling and coffee on this trip has been no exception. We've become more familiar with the intricacies of Italian and Slovenian coffee. The cappuccino's are dangerously good, but they do vary greatly between Italy (smaller but stronger espresso taste) and Slovenia (larger size but more cream). Here's a short list of coffee drinks we've
encountered so far:

• Espresso and dopio (double) espresso
• Espresso con panna (with cream)
• White espresso (no foam)
• Cappuccino
• Maracchino (Moroccan)
• Cafe Americano (not what we call americano)
• Cafe Tedesco (German)
• Cafe Orzo (barley kaffe)
• Cafe latte (espresso and cream with foam)
• Latte Macchiato (like what Americans call a latte)
• Iced Kaffe (usually a milkshake like drink)
• Corretto (shot of espresso with grappa or other liquor)
• Bela Kava (Slovenian cafe latte)
• Kava z mlekom (Slovenian coffee with milk)
• Crna kava (Slovenian black coffee)

We've enjoyed the cappuccino and espresso immensely. A good cup of espresso is available all day and just about anywhere including the autostrada gas stations - yes! There have been a few challenges though, such as getting something "to go".  Clearly this is not a regular request and it usually results in the waiter scrambling through drawers and cabinets for a dispensable cup, with about a 65% success rate. We finally did get a cup to go on the road in Italy.

Espresso "to go" near Trieste

Getting plain iced coffee has also been a challenge. It inevitably comes out sweet, and in extreme cases it resembles a chocolate milkshake as the waiter beams over the extra effort he took to include a big chunk of fresh whip cream. No big deal - just funny.

We've also struggled getting an "americano". In South Tyrol I was determined to extend my morning espresso so I ordered an Americano. However, what Italians call an americano is simply a basic "cup of joe". There it was sitting in front of me, a bland tasting coffee while Shannon happily sipped away on her capacchino.  I muscled it down and inquired further...

  "What do you call an espresso with hot water?"
  "We don't call it anything...we call it espresso with hot water".

That was easy, not sure why that took me so long.

Interestingly enough after I thought I had the americano thing figured out, I hit another speed bump. When I ordered "espresso with hot water" the next week I received an espresso with a dinky little hot water on the side (smaller than the espresso itself). Oh well its a process, I guess.

Hot dogs are served here also. Today, in Val Gardena South Tyrol, I ordered vegetable soup with sausage and was disappointed when the sausage turned out to be a whole hot dog. Our first week here Cailin ordered a hot dog in Finale Borgo and got a cold dog wrapped in a focaccia. Yum!

Matrix meats always please

Obviously the food experience has been great and these comments are just future stories for us to tell. As Jimmy Buffett says;

"If it all blows up and goes to hell,
I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some hotel,
And listen to the stories we could tell"