PalenQ

Just now on NPR a lady called in and said she had just returned from Europe and paid $8 for a cup of coffee in Stockholm and $8 a cup in Tuscany.

Now while Stockholm i could maybe believe but tell me that any kind of cup of coffee in Tuscany don't cost $8!

And the lady seemed to have cred - she said she was the owner of ItalyHomeScout, which searches for homes in Tuscany for U.S. buyers.

$8 a cup - i was in Rome and Florence in Jan this year and paid no more than $2 or so for my cappuccinos and lattes.

But Tuscany - is it that inflated even in Todi?

WillTravel

You could pay $8 a cup if you go to a ritzy cafe and sit down - but even so she might have rounded it up from 5 Euros.

kismetchimera

Some people enjoy embellishing their travel's story..

tomassocroccante

Oh, it will be sad if willing tourists encourage such excess!

One thing for sure, it wasn't it a place with local customers! (Or at least local customers paying that price.)

PalenQ

Here was this lady whose business is way off because of rising euro and then saying this crap, i believe, about $8 cups of coffee, as if it were the usual cup of coffee - no wonder folks are scared away by the falling dollar.

WillTravel

But 5 Euros for a cup of coffee is possible - in a cafe with a terrace where you can sit for hours. So it all depends what you want.

Marycang

Another reason not to listen to NPR.

ira

Hey PQ,

If one tries hard enough, one can find a $10 cup of coffee.

PalenQ

yes anywhere in the world i believe

markrosy

My record is 8 euros in Porto Cervo - Sardinia - this is a place that has discos that only allow billionaires in - tacky as hell!

ira

PS,

From the "Fall travel..Cheaper?" thread:

"AMERICANS who visited Europe this summer encountered the sticker shock of $500 hotel rooms, $70 cab rides and $10 cans of Pepsi".

So an $8 cuppa ain't so bad.

StuDudley

>> i was in Rome and Florence in Jan this year and paid no more than $2 or so for my cappuccinos and lattes.<<

$2 is pretty high for a cup of milk. $2 for Cappuccino I can understand.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

It's always been a pet peeve of mine that the NYTimes Travel section will say for a certain place that 'hotels run $200 or so - completely blind to the many cheaper hotels but just lead you to expect you have to pay $200 or more to sleep each night.

They should qualify these figures as a 'luxury hotel' or whatever.

Like the ItalyHomeScout lady, who obviously or one hopes at least knows the usual price for a cappuccino - a few euros in normal caffes at least - should have qualified it as coffee on a terrace at a high-end restaurant, etc.

tomassocroccante

OP stated that "a lady called in" to NPR with her statement. So far, at least, radio programs and networks are not responsible for the veracity of statements by callers to phone-in shows. So, no, this in iteself would not be a reason not to listen to NPR - the fact that they are probably the best broadcast news organization in the US notwithstanding, you'll have to find another reason.

Back to my coffee ... brewed at home for pennies a cup.

PalenQ

<... brewed at home for pennies a cup.>

but is it orgqanic shade-grown on a Hawaiian volcano and with certified Fair Trade beans?

WillTravel

PalenQ - that annoys me too about the NYT and hotel prices. But in the long run I'm glad they do not post the real bargains, for the most part, or they'd be overrun.

tomassocroccante

At present it is Caffe Morganti "Mocha d'Oro" and "Asso [ace] decaffeinato" 50/50. Yep, I make drip coffee with Italian espresso. Great flavor and lower in caffeine naturally. And I have it on hand to make espresso or cappuccino when I want one.

Morganti is a Roman company, in Italy found mostly in Lazio or not far outside central Italy, at any rate. The Ciampini group of bars in Rome are Morganti customers (they are each owned, I believe, by different branches of the Ciampini family)I especially like the Ciampini cafe up on via Trinita dei Monti, where you have a lovely garden to sit in, and some great views one the way.

My friend Andrea Morganti is the genius who gave me the name Tomasso Croccante.