PORTABLE ESPRESSO MACHINE

PORTABLE ESPRESSO MACHINE

Aug 9, 2026 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

August. Some people can travel and others can’t, but somehow we all find ourselves thinking about vacations. 

I’m renewing my invitation: if you’re among those who’ll be enjoying coffee in some beautiful spot, feel free to share a few photos, if you’d like.

Macchina per espresso portatile

My husband and I have started a new tradition: every Sunday morning, we take a virtual trip with Nicolò Balini and La Vale, depending on the country we’ve chosen. Do you follow them, too?

Actually, Human Safari focuses more on dishes than on coffee, in addition to places, people, and customs but we love the way they experience the world.

After all, in many places, coffee doesn’t play the “role” we’re used to attributing to it here, so if you’re not particularly addicted to it, it makes perfect sense to focus on the food instead.

We often laugh when we remember that time in Paris when we desperately tried to get an espresso, repeating to several baristas: “serré, serré, très serré” … but no one actually got it.
That was back in the ’90s, does anyone want to tell us what the Parisian café scene is like these days?

The size restrictions that various airlines impose on carry-on luggage are certainly strict.

Would you sacrifice space for a travel “coffee maker,”  if we want to call it that?

Macchina per espresso portatile

Actually, the term is a bit of a misnomer, because the correct definition would be “portable espresso machine,” and it’s also compatible with capsules, in addition to the version that uses classic ground coffee.

Equipped with a USB-rechargeable battery, it’s as compact as a thermos.

You can see it in this video after the 17-minute mark.

They say “spompettare”a fun term, don’t you think? It could easily become a ritual: boiling water and spompettare.

In fact, the portable espresso machine is self-heating and even lets you choose between two options: hot coffee and iced coffee.

It’s a bit like asking: coffee in the sand or Leccese coffee? 

While I wait to find out your choice, speaking of coffee on the road: here’s Málaga!

Macchina per Espresso portatile

CARBOPLATIN

CARBOPLATIN

Aug 2, 2026 | Uncategorized

Carboplatin: Can I say that if you’ve never heard of this word, you’re lucky?

We’d never heard of it until one day we came face-to-face with a huge mountain blocking our path: one morning, out of the blue, my husband woke up gasping for breath.

That was one of those moments after which your life is never the same again.

No coffee that morning, and above all, no “keep calm.”

Doctors, medications, hospitals,  appointments, tests, and one of the most daunting words of all: frightening, difficult, obscure.

Anger, fear, denial, exhaustion, pain.

And yet Massimo is facing it all head-on and has no trouble saying, “I have cancer.” 

Carboplatin is one of the weapons to fight it.

A medication, a liquid, a chemotherapy agent.

In the oncology ward, we’re meeting so many people, each with a different story, each sharing a different experience.

Intertwined destinies. 

Mixed reactions: some welcome and empathize, some withdraw into themselves, some say hello, some don’t even give a glance, some are completely bewildered, some act like they know it all, and there are even those who, despite everything, manage to smile. 

So, keep calm and one day at a time.

FINGERSMITH

FINGERSMITH

Apr 18, 2026 | BOOKS, BOOKS

*Fingersmith* by Sarah Waters, published by Ponte alle Grazie, is yet another book for which I am grateful to Monica.

At the end of the first part, there’s a plot twist I hadn’t suspected in the slightest, so I was delighted to find myself surprised, since, all things considered, this doesn’t happen very often

Fingersmith is the protagonist, but once I reached the end of her story, I’d say that the thief is someone else and that the “theft” is far more serious—indeed, despicable.

Roles taken for granted and surrogates who take on the honor and burden of being the sole anchor of affection to cling to in a sea of loneliness and pain.

I’ve spoken of mothers many times, always in a positive light, but here we go beyond the boundaries of good or evil…

But to stick to the theme stated in the title: what kinds of thieves do you know?

COFFEE ON CARRIAGE

COFFEE ON CARRIAGE

Apr 12, 2026 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Tomislav introduced me to another interesting tidbit.

The coffee machine on carriage.

As you can see from the pictures, it’s no joke.

When I opened the link to Callum’s video that Tomislav sent me, I was incredulous, with a cartoonish expression on my face.

The immediate question is: who on earth thought of putting a coffee machine in a Cinderella-style carriage? 

Who can give me an answer?

We’re in Tiraspol, Transnistria: a territory located east of the Dniester River, belonging de jure to the Republic of Moldova but de facto an independent state, with its administrative seat in Tiraspol, not recognized by the international community following the unilateral declaration of independence in August 1991.

Also from Tiraspol, Clazz tells us about a coffee maker, again in a vending machine format. 

Anna calls it an Alice in Wonderland-style teapot

but maybe she got the fairy tale wrong—I mean, coffee in a teapot? No way.

Maybe Brobdingnag … what do you think?

Have you ever gotten coffee from a unique vending machine?

SOTTOVENTO

SOTTOVENTO

Apr 5, 2026 | ITALY, ITALY

Sottovento is a spot in Pavia that someone has called a “Literary Tavern” a very nice description, don’t you think?

The sign itself reads “coffee and refreshments.”

“Refreshments” a word that perhaps evokes a slightly retro concept, yet one that’s certainly emblematic.

Shelter (sottovento) and refreshment.

The reason I’m telling you about Sottovento is controversial.

Or, if we want to play with words: controvento.

The City of Pavia fined Sottovento for the stickers you see in the image.

I quote verbatim:
Referring to Article 25, paragraph 2 of the Pavia Local Police Regulations, which states: “Owners or managers of commercial establishments… are required to keep their storefronts clean,” someone has decided that our stickers are dirt.

Now, are stickers on a storefront really dirt?

Before continuing, I’ll turn the question back to you.

After all, these stickers are retro, a symbol of a time that no longer exists.

For example, I used to collect stickers as a child; now, in the era of digital images created by artificial intelligence, what can a sticker represent?

To the managers of Sottovento:
It literally tells a part of its own story, bearing the mark of hundreds of people from all over the world who have passed through here. They bear witness to presence, satire, anger, political commitment, and thought all the serious and the playful moments that have passed through our doors. They are a sign, an expression, they are art, a splendid collective work of art.

What do you think?

We’ve never been to Sottovento before, but I invite you to check out their social media to form your own opinion.

Sticker bombing aside, as a resident not of Pavia but of the province I’d rather see law enforcement focused on other priorities, given that people are now afraid to go out at night.

From being in the wind to being under siege, if anything.

And, honestly, I happen to see a whole host of businesses that apparently show no particular inclination to comply with fire safety regulations, let alone tax laws and so on.

I’d like to think that just as many fines have been issued.

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