Cafe Majestic, Porto, Portugal
It was so relaxing that we went back the next day when the rest of the group took tours of the Port warehouses. to be fair to us they did go off without noticing that we weren't in of the many taxis booked for the extended family outing. So we sat in sun again, planned our outfits for Susi's daughter's wedding later that day and talked about mother daughter relationships.
The lunchtime alcohol was probably not the wisest choice, we followed it with 4 Euro manicures in a small bygone era hairdressers (straight out of Eastenders, you could see it in Albert Square: Portugese Dot Cotton was there, doing blue rinses instead of laundry. I kid you not) This fascinating bit of time travel which took two hours then required correction with 10 Euro manicures back at the hotel! It was great fun though.
Coffee Gallery Haleiwa, Oahu Hawaii
When I think of the year I spent living on the north shore when the girls were toddlers, I remember this great coffee shop. It was a real throw back to the hippie era, well, the North Shore generally is a 60's throwback eclectic surfing beach bum hangout type of place. Real 'manyana', worlds apart from Honolulu only an hour away.
Here's the thing - how can a place where people consume loads of caffeine still be somewhere these same people are so relaxed?
The coffee shop had a fantastic choice of coffees, smoothies, and a great menu. You can buy the Hawaii speciality Kona coffees, own house blends, there's live music nights, free wifi, garden with sculptures and room for the kids to play in, fabulous original art on the walls, meet a Bohemian crowd mostly from California circa 1968. I have really fond memories of it, but when I look back now, the word 'dodgy' comes to mind. Why? Because it was a great place to get into the laid back frame of mind, you could easily buy a dodgy car or used surf board, or dodgy art that no one 'gets', try not to notice the dodgy clientele doing dodgy smoking here, there & everywhere, some trying (dodgily of course) to meet their soul-mates. To be honest I'm not fond of Kona coffee, so dodgy coffee too. I loved going there. This was before the coffee revolution hit the UK, so was still kinda novel. Maybe it was because the kids liked it there, space for them, there was food that the little fuss pots liked, somewhere I could get away to, cemented some good friendships there, ... I don't know, but I loved it would and love to revisit it again.
And yes, I still have the Coffee Gallery poster in my study! :)
Aloha
