Ah, the smell of coffee in the morning... especially when mixed with decent bacon and an egg or two. Bliss. Which makes me realise that I am a cafe person, not a pub person. I have enjoyed the British pub experience variously (depending on the quality of the pub). They are handy places where you can do serious damage to any hint of hunger and usually find a palatable pint of beer (and very occasionaly cider) to wash it down with. They don't tend to play loud music or require any pretence of trendy clothing.
But, in the end, I hanker for my New Zealand cafes. I want surly service and weird jazz and blackhole coloured coffee (with happy cow milk in it). I want too much maple syrup and oddly chosen fruit. I want tomatoes covered in rock salt and scrambled eggs which threaten to take over the table. I want muffins larger than my head. I want *everything* to come with feta cheese! I want 'art' on the walls! I want to argue with people about whether the stuff on the walls counts as art! I want to argue with people about whether the clientelle count as art!
though, I must confess, I don't particularly care for the crappy newspapers we have. I am thinking of putting together a Guardian subscription collective and importing my journalism.
Perhaps I could settle for a T-shirt which says "I want everything to come with feta cheese!"
Posted by carla at September 20, 2004 04:53 AMI am totally with you on the newspapers. If you could find a way to import the Guardian to New Zealand in a timeous* manner each day I would shower you with huge muffins.
*strange word they love in the UK. Often used in conjunction with 'outwith'.
There's always the Guardian Online.
Posted by: iona at September 20, 2004 08:33 AMA teeshirt can easily be arranged...
Posted by: Fionnaigh at September 20, 2004 11:10 AMThe cafes (and us) miss you too;o
No kidding about the papers. The DOM sucks!! And preys on our freshly woken, coffee addled wee brains... grr!!! ;((
Posted by: bec at September 20, 2004 08:22 PMI was thinking that the Guardian would *have* to be last weekend's one. But I don't ming about that much, as timeousness isn't my big thing. Headlines I get from the internet. Background articles I want from a paper. My key aim is for something to read which has some actual content. Reading the Dom is like eating sawdust. I was also thinking that it would end up doing a wide round of people-who-were-interested (including a last trip to the great Guardian resting ground with my family in Napier).
I think New Zealanders use timely instead of timeous. I wonder why?
Posted by: .carla at September 20, 2004 09:26 PMOne of the things I miss about London is wandering into the newsagent on a saturday or sunday morning and scanning the headlines and lists of supplements to decide which half tree's worth of paper to buy. And having weeks where I bought a different newspaper to red on the tube each day. (Mixture of: following random columists, trying to balance political biases and sheer this is the joy of living in London-ness)
Posted by: Georgina at September 21, 2004 02:19 AMOh man.
A proper cafe....
*sigh*
Its funny, I was expecting to like Londonness (due to spending the first three years of my life there). But I didn't much. It all seemed to be a huge effort for modest reward. By the time you'd found what it was you wanted to see, got across town, and paid for the priviledge, I always felt a little cheated. Wellington is definitely smaller in scope, but I find my efforts more rewarding.
Posted by: .carla at September 21, 2004 05:50 AMGabriel liked London lots, maybe because she frequently went on trips to other parts of Europe, and just used it as a base, but also had plenty of time to make herself at home.
Posted by: Eleanor at September 21, 2004 11:27 AM