After a recently developed bad habit of Latte consumption I decided to go on a quest to find real cappuccinos. In Vigo Linda and I found a little neighborhood cafe about 30 minute walk away from the ship. We hoped that this put us out of the tourist zone and into genuine local territory. We went in and saw that there were locals drinking coffee with the free newspapers from the counter, relaxing and talking, a laid back kind of place. And I saw the staff deftly using an Expobar espresso maker. I asked for a cappuccino and a coffee with milk. The barista (probably just a waiter here, minimum standards to know how to use an espresso maker) pulled espresso and steamed milk. He made Linda's coffee with a long pull and steamed milk, looked like a latte to me. He presented it all by very swiftly assembled the cups and saucers, several kinds of sugar in packets, along with a plate with two churros (?? I think that was the word, they were like plain donuts only they were straight instead of round). The coffees were excellent. Very reasonably priced as well. Before we left other cruisers found the little cafe as well, we got to say hi to two Tasmanians and three Newfoundlanders from the ship. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.
In the second port we visited, Lisbon, we didn't exactly have the same luck. We found a cafe in a touristy area that we hoped was atleast a little genuine since they had a constant stream of business customers from the local offices. Having checked a multilingual menu I found that cappuccino in Portugese was cappuccino, but a coffee with milk was a cafe con leche. So that's what I ordered. Linda got a long pull espresso with milk, which wasn't too bad, but the cappuccino, to my horror, came from a Nescafe packet! Instant Cappuccino!! Just like what I could buy off the shelf at the grocery at home. First major disappointment from a European Cafe. Hopefully we'll do better in Cadiz.
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