2004 / august / 05
Back from Italy #2
Three days back from Italy and I still don't know what to do with lunch.
The bakery near my house closed down a couple of months ago. So, no nice
bread at home, since I forget to take the spare out of the freezer before I
go to bed.
So, buying lunch. The canteen is lousy, but
I work in the heart of Amsterdam. Shouldn't be too hard
then should it? Well, it is.
The coffee is ok at the Coffee Company, but hardly acceptable by Caffe
standards. I mean, even along the Autostrada the coffee is invariable
excellent and half of what they dare to ask here for a badly done espresso.
Or a cappuccino where the cocoa is spread liberally, to camouflage the
quickly fading foam. Right, that's why they push the sirups.
And the food... it is so crappy here. Or ridiculously expensive, and then
still. The Dutch care more for the appearance of their food than for the
content; strange, since their taste in clothing is the opposite.
Italy reminded me of Ireland in that respect: a lot of food for sale,
expensive or cheap, but never dead-cheap and crappy. Actually, never
crappy. Bad food is simply not on offer.
I settled for a bagle with hüttenkäse and cherry tomatoes in the end. Was doable, and it was on a terrace in the sun, with a friend. Not too bad, not too bad. I guess I'll get used to it. Grudgingly though, and if I don't, it's time to move southwards. Even to Belgium would help!
