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Today I finally had coffee at a cafe I noticed two years ago but never got a chance to visit. This year I made time out of work to walk the 15 minutes up Bishopsgate’s road past Liverpool St Station to get coffee from the “Department of Coffee and Social Affairs”. It was a solid 7/10 but unfortunately I was a little underwhelmed given it was such a small coffee for £3 and the Gherkin coffee yesterday was closer and pretty good.

A cool name does not always equal an awesome coffee. Maybe my expectations were a little high

And let’s not forget the Obligatory Daily Gherkin. Today it combines coffee and bikes !

And the Gherkin tonight

The mood in London tonight was totally electric given the UK beat Colombia in the World Cup match to get into the quarter finals. Even I, one of the most sport agnostic people in the universe ended up in a pub watching the game on TV

Today Sharon and Emma visited Harry Potter Cash Extraction World. Updates on that to come later…

It was time to bid farewell to Krakow and head west to London. At the same time Sharon and Emma were on their way to London via Hong Kong as well.

I Got up early, did a final pack and was out by 5.10am. I had a 5:56 train and didn’t want to take and risks in missing it. Found train platform easily and discovered it was already here, but not letting people on it yet. Everything with this train is well marked no issue finding carriage or seat number. Quite a few people already waiting for the train, this one heads across the country and its final destination is Gdańsk.

Train left spot on time. Of course the day I leave the sun is out and it looks like it will be a glorious weekend. Conductor Checks ticket and name on ticket matches passport. Even in second class on this train they give you a tea or instant coffee. Any caffeine at this time is welcome but some sugar was added to make it digestible.  Once at the Warsaw central station, quickly found the metro ticket office, bought a 75 minus ticket (the transfer takes just over 20 minutes, so the “cheaper” ticket won’t cut it). Got the S3 fast train to the airport.

I managed to spend my last 30 zlotys getting breakfast at the airport which was a coffee and an apple muffin. Not sure what it is with Airports but they food is almost exactly the same in everyone. This was pretty tasteless.

My flight was delayed out of Warsaw and delayed in Heathrow so I only really had time to check into the apartment here then head back out to Paddington station for Sharon and Emma to arrive. Arrive they did and we went out for some Pizza in the Leadenhall Market

British Airways were not having a good day. Delays at both airports and they ran out of for mid Service. Everyone says London has horrible weather. When we go there we get heatwaves !

Hello London !

We are not in Krakow anymore Toto. Back to Western European prices for thee. This would have fed me for 2-3 days in Krakow.

I can’t believe I forgot to write about this, however after the Salt Mine tour on Wednesday, the tour company took us over to the Oscar Schindler Factory museum. Its very good and doesn’t just concentrate on the Oscar Schindler, it goes into detail on the whole Polish experience in WW2 and life for Jewish people in the ghetto. It is one of the top rated attractions in Krakow.

Hint : Take a close look at the floor tiles.

 

 

Tonight I went to Fabryka Pizzy for some Italian. I had the most spectacular Beetroot & Salami risotto. It would have to be up there with the best risotto I’ve ever tasted. Washed down with a glass of house red and a bottle of sparking mineral water for the unbelievable price of AUD13

After that, went for a final wander around the streets to soak up the atmosphere, grabbed a gelato and walked back to the apartment. The chocolate was a chocolate plumb flavour. Lovely

I avoided my usual “out the door” at 7 this morning and hung back till after 9 so I could check out this cafe that opens later. It’s actually right next door to the one I’ve been at for the last few mornings.

It’s quite wet and yuck here so I was in no hurry to go out earlier. It’s basically a mild wet Sydney’s winter day with lots more light.

The quickest way to the cafe was through the square but I’ve done this every morning so since it’s my last full day here I decided to go around in the Planty Park. Very tranquil this time of morning

This is the best rated cafe in the old town if you google around, and it’s pretty good. Coffee is good, although maybe not as good as the one I had in the afternoon on the bike tour over the other side of the river

Here is the inside of the cafe

And the coffee

And the breakfast. I did state calories don’t count on holidays right ? At least then yoghurt is natural and unsweetened !!

I actually had two coffees here and ordered a still water. Here is the bottle. I’d just assumed it was plastic (it has a bluer tinge that the photo doesn’t really show).

I got a shock when I picked it up. It’s glass! The top gives it away but I never noticed that

Did I mention how cheap Krakow is ? All this top quality food, A$13