COFFEE IS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE THAT OVERCOMES CULTURAL BARRIERS

COFFEE IS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE THAT OVERCOMES CULTURAL BARRIERS

Jun 29, 2024 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Coffee is a universal language that overcomes cultural barriers: a hot cup can unite people from every corner of the world.

I take the cue from this quote to confirm how coffee here has given me the opportunity to communicate with people living in areas hitherto unknown to me.

Tomislav keeps going on to update me about his project, remember I told you about his comics, but also about the photos of his coffees that he never fails to send me?

I am very grateful to him and thanks to him I discovered that in Temisvar there is a statue dedicated to Romulus and Remus.

These are his coffees!
Turkish coffee in Subotica and ‘morning coffee’ with candies from Macedonia as Tomislav called it.

Il caffè è un linguaggio universale che supera le barriere culturali: una tazza calda può unire persone provenienti da ogni angolo del mondo.Il caffè è un linguaggio universale che supera le barriere culturali: una tazza calda può unire persone provenienti da ogni angolo del mondo.

Lela constantly teaches me about her Georgia, and through her love of Italy she uncovers many interesting crossovers, such as L’Antica Trattoria Toscana and Georgiana. 

What better combination than food?

Speaking of food, Lela described their cheese to me: Sulguni სულგუნი, სულუგუნი which comes from the Samegrelo region and is reminiscent of our mozzarella. Do you know it?

I believe that being able to chat about any subject and listen to life’s monents, interests, and those little things that simply make up the days is absolutely interesting and instructive.

The small differences, nuances, languages, traditions, environments, which are a heritage to be preserved and passed on.

Have you ever met, known, discovered people through the ‘bridge’ represented by coffee?

A hot cup can unite people from every corner of the world.

Coffee is a universal language that overcomes cultural barriers: a hot cup can unite people from every corner of the world.

Or perhaps your point of sharing has been different.

Whatever corner of the world you come from, feel welcome and free to tell!

LIFE IS A BEAUTIFUL AND ENDLESS JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT CUP OF COFFEE.Barbara A. Daniels

LIFE IS A BEAUTIFUL AND ENDLESS JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT CUP OF COFFEE.Barbara A. Daniels

Feb 24, 2024 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

Life is a beautiful and endless journey in search of the perfect cup of coffee.
Barbara A. Daniels

I take this fantastic quote to thank Tomislav  for taking up my invitation: I am always happy when you send me pictures of your coffee.

In this case Tomislav sent me a picture of his afternoon coffee, telling me that he had found a new cup that was smaller than the one he used to use.

And look how beautiful these vintage advertisements are too!

There’s a cappuccino radiating light just to represent a happy moment.

Happy as I am adding a new stage to the journey from mug to mug. 

I take this opportunity to show you a picture of what used to be my favourite cup before it broke.

 

What a sad fate when the objects we care most about break more easily than the things we care less about, isn’t it?

Am I the only walking disaster?

I remember the exact moment when I realised that the cup had slipped out of my hand … can you imagine the echo of my noooooooooooo?

Do you have a favourite cup in particular? And if so, have you managed to preserve it?

Tomislav replaced his cup with a new one, how long has your cup been with you? How many coffees have it seen?

So, considering the opening quote:
Life is a beautiful and endless journey in search of the perfect cup of coffee.

Did you completed the wonderful journey in search of the perfect cup of coffee?

KISSES OF ALASSIO

KISSES OF ALASSIO

Sep 23, 2023 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

This is a somewhat particular “step” on the mug-to-mug journey, or perhaps I should say it is more of a crossover with Coffee Kiss. 

The kisses, however, are chocolate, and more specifically they are Kisses of Alassio.

Alassio is a resort on the Ligurian Riviera, and here there is real-time sea views thanks to a webcam.

In the 1950s Alassio became a popular destination throughout Europe, a haunt of artists and celebrities who gathered in the cafés still symbolic of the Dolce Vita.

I find this description particularly beautiful.

One such café is precisely Pasticceria Balzola, still making the sweets patented by Balzola Pasquale in 1919.

I thank Monica who gave them to us as a gift!

Have you tasted these Baci = Kisses yet?

Or have you already “seen them?”

Yes: Kisses in Alassio can also be seen, in the form of exhibited works: Artàporter issued a call for artists to submit tiles for the Muretto virtual version.

Alassio thus becomes METALASSIO and some artists have represented the Kisses this way:

Speaking of virtual kisses, have you ever heard of Kissenger?

I know, it’s a name that immediately evokes a parody …

But Kissenger really exists, though: it’s an app with a device you can attach to your phone to send each other kisses via phone …

I’ll pass, over the phone at most you can get me to sing … you know the song Kiss by Prince, also made famous by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman who sings it in the bathtub?

Or on the phone kisses can be written, quoting some of the most beautiful poetry ever written, for example there is
Love’s Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the Ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
in one another’s being mingle
Why not I with thine?
See the mountains kiss high Heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain’d its brother:
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea
what are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?


But since we are talking about the sea, at this point I ask you: did you in Alassio eat the Kisses, see them, or give them?

COFFEE IN THE SAND

COFFEE IN THE SAND

Dec 3, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Sand coffee or, more precisely Turkish sand coffee is the typical Turkish coffee brewed in hot sand.

First of all, thank you Lu: inexhaustible source of tips, and in case you have not yet visited her blog The Caustic Misanthrope be aware that you are missing out on very interesting reading.

Bir fincan kahve i.e. the cup of coffee is brewed in the cezve.

The cezve is a kind of kettle pot with a classic pot-bellied shape on the bottom, long-handled with a spout designed specifically for making Turkish coffee.

 

Turkish coffee is prepared differently than ours: ground coffee and water are mixed directly in the cezve and the coffee powder is not filtered.

This is why it is sometimes sweetened or spiced first: when the coffee is ready, the coffee powder settles quickly to the bottom but you don’t have to stir it.

But speaking of grains, let’s come to the sand!

What does sand have to do with this?

Apparently, coffee was introduced to Istanubul by Syrian traders in the 16th century, however it was initially considered a drug, so it was forbidden.

However, coffee gained popularity and the ban was lifted.

Sultans and nobles began to have it brewed by their workers using the hot sand method.

Because in the hot sand the heat is enveloping and complete compared to the flames of a fire, it makes for a coffee with a creamy consistency.

 

In the following video you can see the process.

What do you think about?

Not to rub it in, but unlike our coffee, Turkish coffee has been added to UNESCO‘s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. 

Perhaps we could try reading coffee grounds to seek more luck for the future.

SMART CITY

SMART CITY

Sep 3, 2022 | ITALY, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, TECHNOLOGY

Smart City is a definition that recurs more and more often now.

Smart City is one of the main themes of civics hours in school.

But specifically how do you experience what smart offers in your city?

In your experience, can you tell of an actual improvement in the quality of your life, or is it all still ephemeral in your neck of the woods for now?

In the image I wanted to finally “offer” you a coffee in Piazza Ducale.

But the city of Vigevano offers many other experiences, including virtual ones.

On the City’s website you can check out a Vigevano Smart City dashboard with some options among which I would like to point out the live webcam. 

And when you decide to come and visit our ducal living room, you will have at your disposal these directions that offer the possibility of more information via QR code.

In the same vein, a “digital” bench was inaugurated.

Red, as red is the symbolic color against violence against women. 

The problem is that hand in hand should also be converted the education of citizens, who too often prove to be the exact opposite of smart.

A marker mark was enough to make the QR code illegible.

This tiny stroke actually emblematically represents a great trait that sets us apart, and likewise reveals the weakness on which what should be the future rests ….

FILOSOFEGGIANDO IN ALLEGREZZA

FILOSOFEGGIANDO IN ALLEGREZZA

Aug 19, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG

Filosofeggiando in allegrezza is the blog that gives us a new stage of the Journey from mug to mug, and now I have plenty of joyful serenity for these pictures too!

As you may have guessed, the photo below the title is from Spain: Galicia, and to be precise it is from the Vigo Book Festival. 

As Feiras do Libro de Galicia take place every year in various towns and cities in Galicia, in the spring and summer months, with stalls run by booksellers, and an extensive program of parallel activities, such as readings, meetings with authors, exhibitions, book presentations, etc., that make these events a meeting of great cultural interest.

The writer who most universalized Vigo was Jules Verne, in a passage from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Have you read it?

I missed it until my son brought it home from the elementary school library, but there’s always time to recover, right?

In Verne’s novel, the Vigo estuary hides very rich treasures from the Battle of the Bay or Battle of Rande.

“So, Mr. Aronnax (…), we are in that same bay of Vigo. It is up to you to unravel its mysteries.”

The battle took place on October 23, 1702 between the Anglo-Dutch and Spanish-French coalitions during the War of the Spanish Succession. Spanish galleons arrived at the Vigo estuary laden with the greatest treasure that had ever crossed the Atlantic: gold and silver, jewels…

“The sand was littered with those treasures. Then, laden with that precious booty, those men would return to the Nautilus, deposit their burdens and resume that inexhaustible fishery for gold and silver.”

Since then hundreds of dives have been made in the waters of the Vigo Estuary in search of treasure. Without going any further, six battle-related wrecks were located and identified in 2011.

Thus, don’t you think that the quote chosen to introduce the Festival:

THE BEST STORIES BEGIN WITH GOOD COFFEE

is simply perfect?

If you want to discover further interesting anecdotes about Galicia, don’t miss the description of the trip here on Filosfeggiando in Allegrezza. 

Speaking of precious things then, here are two coffees from Monforte de Lemos!

So after Verne we can also mention Miguel Cervantes’ El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha, precisely with reference to the Count of Lemos.

But about Monforte de Lemos you can ind more details on Filosfeggiando in allegrezza in the second part of the report.

And what about you? Where have you had your coffee lately?

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