The following is a series of random coffee shots from our trip to Portugal and random stories to accompany them along the way. I also threw in a few photos of some treats that we came across for good measure. Coffee and treats sort of go hand in hand. I hope you enjoy 😁.
Our flight to Portugal was super early in the morning and we had to get up around 3:30am to drive to the airport. We packed super light for this trip and actually managed to do our 7 night holiday with only our travel backpacks. It was a bit of an experiment but it actually worked out really well and not having to check bags and pay the extra fees was totally worth it in my opinion.
The first coffee of the trip was at a Starbucks at the CDG airport in Paris. We've been there three times this year and they are always super late to open. We entered the queue forming outside the closed gates and waited over 15 minutes, constantly checking the time. It was dark inside but we could see the staff preparing the counter for their opening. I checked the time on my phone again and thought "5:25am...hmmm its strange that they open on the half hour." I squinted my eyes to read a laminated sign taped to the outer wall of the shop stating in big black letters that the store opens at 5am. "Wow! 25 minutes late and counting...no wonder theres a line up of over 30 people out front!" What can a person do in such a situation but write an completely useless Google review? That will show them!
Response from Starbucks: "That's not our sign."
Me: "Oh really? Well I guess a customer must have taped it to the exterior wall of your shop when you weren't looking. People tend to be a little mischievous that way when they travel. I guess it's all that spare time they have while waiting for their flight..."
Fuck off Starbucks, you've opened late 3 out of 3 times that I've been there, this time just happened to be the worst.
I've taken EasyJet a few times for quick flights in Europe and I'm actually quite impressed by them. They are by far the most efficient airline that I have experienced. They line people up early and have everyone ready to go as soon as the plane is ready to board. They then load passengers from the front and back of the plane, so everyone is generally on board and seated within 15-20 minutes. Most airlines take what?...45 minutes to an hour to board? All three of my EasyJet flights have left on time, which seems to be almost unheard of when it comes to air travel. Easyjet and Starbucks seem to stand on opposite ends of the organization and efficiency spectrum.
This second coffee photo was taken in Porto in the afternoon. Overall, I found the coffee to be very good in the country. Some countries seem to do coffee quite well and Portugal was one of them, at least for me.
We saw this street vendor van in Funchal Madeira. "Life is simple," you drink coffee in the AM and wine in the PM. It doesn't get and simpler than that I suppose. I wish I would have taken a photo of one of us standing next to this thing, just to show how tiny it was. It was as tall as my chest at most.
Okay, actually I lied. My proof-reader (aka my wife) actually did happen to take a photo of the cart (like a boss!). It's a little taller than I thought but still quite small in my opinion.
Here are my random treats. We bought these handmade cookies in Rotterdam many months ago.
I took photos of them but forgot to share, so I'll include them now for your mouth watering enjoyment.
The cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and filled with icing in the middle.
They come in all kinds of flavors but I chose Red Velvet and my wife chose Lotus cookie, which is Speculoos for those that don't know.
More coffee in Funchal City.
We ordered cappuccino's at the end of one of our meals. My wife can drink coffee at any point during the day and sleep just fine. Unfortunately I dont have that ability. I rarely get coffee at the end of a meal but this time I ordered a decaf just to be safe. Normally I think that decaf coffee tastes pretty awful but these were served with whipped cream and cocoa powder, so I really couldn't tell the difference. It ended up being quite delicious.