Illy Cafe – Living in America's Europe

2023.6.5 / Wrapping up the Birthday Week

Saturday morning found us at our favorite Brunch Spot—Roosevelt Room on St. George Street. A great way to start the day and the weekend. We started with Champagne, of course! The Mimosa of the day was Blood Orange, so I took a splash of juice! I had the Triple Mushroom Sandwich with a side of fruit and Phil had the Croque Monsieur with their famous Confit Pommes, which are so good! It’s our favorite brunch spot because they never disappoint, and Saturday was no different. And the staff is friendly and service is spot on.

Then we took a walk around town, stopped at Chocolattes for some croissants for Sunday morning. Chocolattes also has great breakfast sandwiches and beautiful cakes if you are having a sweet tooth. Next stop was The Gifted Cork to pick up a few bottles of wine. If you recall I told you about their wine club, June is Spanish wines, so we chose the two reds for this month. We have not done June’s wine tasting yet.

ChocoLattes

On our walk home we chose to walk along the Bayfront. Walking on the Bayfront is one of my favorite paths; first there is the water, and in my opinion, there really isn’t anything better than the scent of the salty sea air, plus there is always a nice breeze coming off of the water, so it keeps you cool, and depending on the time of day, the horse carriages line up along Avenida Menendez. Always love to see the horse carriages.

Sunday was a low key day which started with croissants and cappuccinos made by my own personal barista Phil. He really makes a delicious coffee! We have a great espresso/cappuccino machine, the Gaggia Classic Pro and our coffee of choice is Illy Intenso and combined they make a great beverage.

I have the BEST Barista

Sunday evening, we went to Forgotten Tonic around the corner for a cocktail and appetizer. Phil has his own drink there called an “Abbynormal” (think Young Frankenstein); it’s an Absinthe Mojito and while it may sound odd, it is actually very good…IF you like the taste of black licorice, so of course he had that. I had the Penicillin – Islay scotch, ginger, honey, lemon; I’m finding I like cocktails with honey and lemon and this one did not disappoint. For apps, we shared the Bruschetta and the Cajun Egg Rolls; which are always a favorite. And then we just came home and watched the telly…we have been binge watching Pennyworth on Amazon Prime. Which is pretty good!

On Monday, last day of birthday week it was a nice quiet day, I mean it is a ‘school day’ after all. I started the day with my morning walk. It was a very blustery day, I almost lost my ‘Wine People’ hat and at the top of the Bridge of Lions you could hear the wind vibrating the cables on all the sailboats at the marina. Have you ever wet your finger and run it around the rim of a wineglass? It was that sound at a much higher pitch/resonance. Natures orchestra. I love windy days.

After my walk, I made us a little breakfast – avocado toast with press pot coffee. And the rest of the day was a Monday…but not in a bad way.