Today is an “at sea” day, so I didn't bother writing my blog yesterday knowing I was going to have time on my hands today. Cruising isn't about the ship activities for me, I like the floating, moving, wake-up-in-a-new-city hotel part of cruising. So today I'm trying to remember yesterday's coffee... Oh yeah, Marbella! That's where we were. We took a bus tour to Marbella and Puerto Banus from Malaga. In Marbella we stuck our feet in the Med and then found a cafe. I ordered the usual and tried to get a Churro, they didn't have any, how about Magdelane's? None of those either, the waiter made some hand motions of what looked like a little cake, I accepted and he brought a... donut. Plain glazed donut, fresh, but otherwise just like home.
The coffees were very good. Tasty and smooth cappuccino, and Linda's cafe con liche came with just a small pour of coffee and he brought heated milk to add at the table (the waiter poured the milk and took the decanter away). We were pleased with the drinks, but we were rushed. Typical bus tour issue, get sat down order, guzzle, try to find the waiter and get a bill, pay and run. There was another couple from our tour who ordered a full breakfast and almost missed the bus.
Since I'm enjoying an at sea day I thought I would have a Latte from the coffee bar on board. I'm drinking it now. They use fresh ground Lavazza coffee from a doser, and the espresso machine is a Simonelli. I've kept an eye on the bar over the last few days and it's almost always the same guys working, so I was hopeful that they knew what they were doing. It didn't really matter, the machine seemed to do most of the work by push buttons. He did have to steam the milk, which he did to such a high temperature that the hot milk hid the taste of the coffee. I've had the coffee in front of me in a take-out cup for about 15 minutes and I still can't taste it.... Well, eventually I could taste it and it was unimpressive to say the least. Hardly worth the 3.45 they charge for it.
In the cafeteria you can get a Latte or Cappuccino from a full automatic dispensing machine for free, even decaf if you prefer. When the machines are working they're not bad, but the staff has to keep an eye on them because they often seem to need cleaning or refilling. Nevertheless I'll probably stick to these machines for the rest of my Lattes on board.
Tomorrow we are in Sardinia, I can't wait to finally reach Italy! How do you say cappuccino in Italian??
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