Café Culture

We like to explore and find great cafes for our morning coffee at home or abroad.

In Vienna, we roamed the streets, seeking out the Austrian capitals historic Café culture. We found old cafes, new cafes, famous touristy cafes and the not so well-known cafes. In our search, we became strudel connoisseurs.

In Bologna, we wandered the arched porticos to discover new cafes. This was pastry country, and we tried quite a few. While seated at tables sipping coffee, we watched Italians standing at coffee bars downing espressos and pastries before heading to work. Cafes provide a convivial people-watching atmosphere.

What do we mean by Café Culture

I don’t remember which trip it was, but while we were travelling, we would go out every morning and find coffee. It gave us an opportunity to explore the local streets, watch the world around us wake up. We also had a morning walk. When we came home, we decided to keep up this habit. Not necessarily every day, but when we could. When we were in a new house sit, the first thing we would do is find a nearby café.

Seeking out Vienna coffeehouses becomes a quest

We are in Vienna and have a quest to undertake. That quest, to find out what makes Vienna coffeehouses worthy of inclusion on the Intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO list. Escaping the wintery cold outside, we entered the warmth and old-world charm of a typical Vienna coffeehouse. A stylish waiter in a dinner suit escorted us to and small marble topped table. We are seated on red velvet cushioned Brentwood Thonet chairs.  The waiter takes our order, two Melange coffees accompanied by an apple strudel with cream. The order comes with glasses of water on a silver tray.

We soak up the ambience. Polite chatter along with coffee aromas filled the air. Older gentleman read newspapers picked from a nearby table. Couples enjoyed coffee in cosy booths. While having coffees we have just witnessed what makes Vienna coffeehouses unique and worthy of UNESCO protection.  Vienna coffeehouses started in the 1680s. Ever since, coffeehouses have provided space for socialising, philosophical gatherings, poetry meetups, political meetings, arty catchups and welcoming tourists. It’s still the same today. A chatty gentleman invited us to a philosophy meetup at Café Korb. Unfortunately, we fly out the day before.

Vietnamese Coffee and Baguettes

Another time, more than 20 years ago, we were travelling around Vietnam and early in our adventures came across Sinh Café in sultry Ho Chi Minh City. Fancying respite from lugging around backpacks, we sat down and ordered coffees and a French baguette. The strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk was not an immediate hit.

But, as we soon found out, Sinh Café offered more than just a quick coffee stop. Before we knew it, we had booked a bus to our next destination and sorted our accommodation while sipping coffee, Vietnam style. Spread throughout the country, Sinh Café became our easy as travel agent. Talking about a convenient way of backpacking around Vietnam. In the 1990s early 2000s Sinh Café was a convivial place for travellers to meet up and talk travel, Today, Sinh Café has morphed into Sinh Tourist, a much bigger multinational travel agent.

On our journey around Vietnam, we grew to love this syrupy beverage. So much so, we purchased a metal drip coffee maker or phin and made our own Vietnam beverage back home.

Our coffee experiences in Vienna and Ho Chi Minh City couldn’t be more different.

At Home

What if we treated our local cafés like we do overseas, in a mindful, curious way. We decided to seek out local café within walking distance of where we live in Claremont. Serendipitously, an Italian themed café began business just around the corner. Every now and then, we pop into Bottega Deli and enjoy Italian style coffee and freshly made cakes. This tiny patch of Italy is a fine example how we live a travel lifestyle back home by following our desire for discovering new cafes.

Tips for Creating your own Cafe Culture

1. Seek out cafes no matter where you are in the world. If we don’t know the area, we use our apple or google maps and type in coffee near me.
2. Don’t be in a rush. Sit at a café table and watch locals go about their business.
3. El fresco cafes provide a great vantage point for taking photos.
4. By going to a café on a regular basis, you can develop a deeper connection with locals and barristers alike. This applies to home or abroad. If the staff know your order without asking, consider yourself almost a local.
5. Go early in the day while on a walk. It’s a great way to start the day.