A blonde bean in Rome

Black coffee, poetry and music

"Do you need rehearsed flattery? Then you'll have to go to someone else. I lie by will and lie good, but always spontaneous. Are you looking for a song to your beauty? Then you'll have to go to someone else. I sing false about the ugly. I'm in love with life, I'm so stupid that I believe in what I do. If you stay, you know what you get:

Black coffee and poetry! Black coffee and dreaming. Black coffee combined with a little self-irony."

When  I was still a teenager this was a very popular song on the chart lists in Sweden. I never fancied the band, Raj Montana Band, very much nor its singer, Dan Hylander,  as I hadn't learnt yet to appreciate the mystery of poetry but this  song for some reason hit home. I recall even buying a ticket to the bands last performance where the mythical Py Bäckman would co-perform.

However.. I lost the ticket just 10 min before the concert.. I hope someone found the ticket and made it to the gig as I lost the opportunity..

For those of you who want to enjoy the song together with me over your cup of coffee as you linger around your laptop today, click this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyEqHEHt68U

for a live performance:

Black coffee and poetry - live

 

33 ways to order a coffee

I was down close to Trastevere this morning, or rather closer to the Jewish Ghetto and opted for a cappuccino at Luigi but unfortunately it was closed today so this blog entry will not be about where I actually had a very good coffee (I'll save it for a rainy day plus I need to go back for pictures) but I'll touch on a subject I have covered before - the many ways you can order a coffee in Italy. It is usually not always posted anywhere so you really have to be "in the know" to get it right.

I don't know how many of you ever heard the song "50 ways to leave your lover" by Paul Simon? It came to my mind as I was in the "Bar del Cappuccino" yesterday and found the "complete" list posted on the wall (the list appeared in Focus 02/2005).

According to this list there are 33 ways to order a coffee according to Luigi Santori - so here is the full list for you my dear readers:

- Amaro
- Ristretto
- Lungo
- Corto
- Alto
- Macchiato
- Macchiato Caldo
- Macchiato Freddo
- Decaffeinato
- Corretto
- Doppio
- Doppio in tazza grande
- D'orzo
- In tazza grande
- In tazza piccola
- Americano
- Cappuccino
- Cappuccino senza schiuma
- Cappuccino tiepiedo
- Cappuccino decaffeinato
- Cappucino con cacao
- Caffelatte
- Latte Macchiato
- Latte Macchiato con decaffeinato
- Marocchino
- In tazza fredda
- Con latte freddo a parte
- Con latte caldo a parte
- Freddo
- Freddo Shakerato
- Irish
- Frappe
- Caffe Creme (Svizzera)

I wonder if  Paul Simon would be up for writing me a song with these 33 ways?

And a decent recommendation for the day would be this bar I found in Piazza Euclide, a clinically clean bar with Illy Coffee beans and Illy machines where the coffee has a hint of dark chocolate and orange peel:

L'Euclide (Bar and Restaurant)
Address: Piazza Euclide, 45
00197 Rome
Phone number: +39 06 806 875 22