Caffè Nero is here

 I blogged about it before and then again, but I heard the news from my wife yesterday: there is a Caffè Nero in our little town. I thought it was a good news at first, but then I thought again: we didn't always have good experiences there and last time we went into a Caffè Nero was pretty catastrophic. Also, it will be about the third big coffee chain that will have a franchise here. And that never fare wells for the small independent cafés we love. Not that I like coffee anyway, mind you, but I love the atmosphere of such places. So maybe, instead of going to Caffè Nero, we will encourage the long standing independent local businesses.

Wolfism about Caffè Nero

 I blogged a few days ago about the imminent opening of Caffè Nero, which I was quite looking forward to. My wife and my son don't share my interest in this coffee chain. And Wolfie reminded me why: last time we went to a Caffè Nero, we had a rather lacklustre experience. Bad enough for him to remember it. Too many people, barely anything to eat or drink behind the counter, dirty place, it truly was a terrible experience. As he explained himself in an hilarious Wolfism: "It was like: "Welcome to the King of Rubbishness!" So we might not go there any time soon, come to think of it.

Caffè Nero (coming soon)

I blogged back in February about the Caffè Nero that was going to open soon in our town's high street. Well, in six months or so, it hasn't opened yet, which is kind of baffling. That said, word of mouth said the opening is now imminent. It's official enough that there's posters announcing it. Some residents are cynical, because we already have plenty of coffee shops. It's not like we needed another. That said, I'm welcoming it, because I quite like the atmosphere in their shops. Also, the building it is going to be in has been empty for at least a year, so it's going to fill an empty space that looked pretty depressing. Anyway, I'll probably blog about my first visit there, so I'll keep you posted...

Ciao Caffè Nero

Well, here's some good local news for a change: we learned that there will a Caffè Nero opening soon in the town centre. No, I am not a coffee drinker, but of all the coffee chains in the UK (not counting the independent coffee shops), Caffè Nero might actually be my favourite. I'm not sure why. Because it's pseudo Italian, perhaps? Because I always find something I really like there (see this post)? Also, it's oneof these underdog chains, not nearly as big as Costa or Starbucks. But mainly, I think I like Caffè Nero because I like the look and feel of their places, the general atmosphere. It just feels nice there. Anyway, many cafés have closed down in the near 20 years we have been living here, so I welcome a new one, even from a chain. So it is on our to visit list, whenever it opens and when there aren't too many customer cramming it.

Italian Iced Tea

Well, I'll be damned. During our last visit to Caffè Nero (which I blogged about here) I discovered that San Pellegrino now has a range of iced teas. There was this lemone & tea and some other flavour with peach or something. Since I don't like coffee and I thought it was warm enough for something cold, this is what I decided to drink. Also, of course, out of curiosity. I don't associate tea with Italy and there is nothing more Italian when it comes to soft drinks than San Pellegrino. As far as I remember, last time I drank iced tea was in 1999, when I first arrived in England to study and the student union was offering the bottles of iced tea as freebie. Some promotion or other. The promotion stopped, so I stopped drinking iced tea until last weekend. I should drink more of it when the temperature is warmer. It tastes quite nice, not too sweet like sometimes their soft drinks do, and it looks like you are drinking a cocktail or some spirit.

White Chocolate Mocha (Freebie)

I recently mentioned that I had a voucher for a free coffee at Caffè Nero. Well, to be precise, it was not a free coffee, it was a free hot drink. But since the best value for money in a coffee shop is generally a coffee, of course I was going to get a coffee. Or, to be precise, my wife was going to get a coffee, as I don't drink coffee. So we decided to benefit from the offer as soon as possible and thus today we stopped at the nearest Caffè Nero we could find (it was situated in a nearby town). She had the White Chocolate Mocha. In no nonsense terms, it's a coffee with white chocolate. I did not have a sip. That said, our time there was nice and the staff was friendly and very sweet with Wolfie. Caffè Nero is maybe the coffee chain we visit the least. My wife actually found out that she had three stamp cards from it, each one started. Given our pleasant experience and if I can get my hands on more vouchers, we might go there more often.

Free coffee from Caffè Nero

Since recently, we have a special scheme at work that allows us to have discounts and special offers in various businesses. Some are not really interesting, most are negligible, but it's always nice to have some extra benefits to be an employee somewhere, however small they may be. So a few days ago, I obtained thanks to that scheme a voucher for a... free coffee at Caffè Nero. Now, as you may know if you have been reading this blog, I happen to loathe coffee. But my wife loves it. Caffè Nero is not her favourite coffee shop and we do not even have one locally. In fact, the nearest Caffè Nero is a few minutes' drive away. No matter, next time we go to a town when there is one, she will benefit from the voucher.