Cafe Americano

For some reason, the Europeans don’t use half-and-half in their coffee, but if you prefer dairy products in your brew, it’s typically milk. A café Americano, also known as Cafe Au Lait, also known as a milk latte, is just that. Milk with coffee. For those of us (aka ME) spoiled with half-and-half, the difference is stark. So after we’d settle into our Airbnb for the night, off we’d traipse to the nearest grocery store. Another thing I like about Europe is that there is a grocery store in every neighborhood! We were never more than 10 minutes from one during our entire stay, which made securing cream for the coffee much easier! The tricky part came in identifying which product was suitable for coffee😂😂. We knew by now to look in the milk section, somewhere in between the yogurt and the cottage cheese and sour cream. It was identifiable by being in a carton, or a plastic container with a tinfoil lid. Odd, but Europe is entirely ‘green’, which means most food containers are recyclable. If the little carton had a strawberry on it, it was cream for whipping, and meant for desserts/fruit. If it had a cucumber, or a potato, it was typically soured cream, but pourable. Not paying attention to the little picture, my first try was soured. My second was a winner, and my third, unbeknownst to me, was plant based! I didn’t happen to notice it until I read the back, with the ingredient list. Three days after I’d been using it. Surprisingly, I hadn’t noticed the difference! I wished I had taken pictures to share with everybody, but I didn’t think I would Blog about coffee cream 😂😂. But after arriving home and finding my husband had graciously bought me a brand new container of half-and-half, I thought I would share the funnier, less spoken of side of international travel! That, and the fact that napkins are incredibly difficult to come by!

A picture just for fun…

This one comes with its own story. On our last evening in Amsterdam, Kelly and I enjoyed a river cruise through the canals. The Captain was pointing out the more prestigious homes lining the beautiful waterways, and there were steps going down both the left side and the right side of the door. He said that people who lived in these homes were taxed on the number of steps they had, and if they were delinquent in their taxes, the tax collectors would come and begin breaking the steps. So when we passed this home on our walk back to our hotel, we both laughed and said…’They didn’t pay their taxes!’ 😂😂😂

Below is the home where Anne Frank and her family were hidden up in the attic. I didn’t think to make a reservation, and of course, the tours for the day were sold out. Definitely warrants a return to Amsterdam, along with Corrie TenBoom’s home in Harlem, about 7 miles from the city’s center.

A sad history here to be sure. But encouraging and uplifting reminders of those who took a stand and intervened to protect the persecuted.