It is summertime and no two days here are ever alike. I will not join the bandwagon and complain about the weather. I just take it as it comes. In just 3 days we have gone from “It’s too darn hot” to “Her comes the rain again”. As the world now knows, Europe's had record-breaking temperatures on Tuesday. I had a coffee appointment and since I always say "rain or shine, life goes on" - I was not about to cancel.
The moment I got outside – I felt as though I had stepped into an oven. It was 38 degrees Celsius or about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I did not feel as though I was boiling instead the warm wind was reminiscent of summer holidays abroad - but this is Holland. I decided to walk on the side of the street with the most trees but that did not really change how I felt.
The walk was pleasant nonetheless as I passed beautiful bridges and streets. However, the streets seemed empty and I thought,
“Am I the only daring or foolish soul walking around in the sweltering heat.” Well, I felt it was the former and my daring friend was on another path to our venue.
I arrived early at “Joe and the Juice”. It is of Scandinavian origin and considered an edgy and different coffee experience. As I waited for my friend I wondered about the name. I could not find any information on their website so I decided that my own guess was correct.
Did you know that coffee has many nicknames? One of the nicknames is ….you guess it “Joe” and another is “Bean Juice”. Although I thought I knew a thing or 2 about coffee – the only other name that sprung to mind was “cuppa”.
If you can - just pour yourself a “cuppa” and I will share with you some coffee facts that I googled while waiting for my friend.
Have you ever heard some of these names? I haven’t but that does not matter. The coffee aficionados reading this post might be able to add a few additional names to the list.
My friend called to say she would be 15 minutes late, so I had more time for my coffee research. During my travels I recall that many countries seemed to have a similar word for this famous dark brown brew.
Here is a list of 40 names.
source
In the end it does not matter what we call our coffee – it is now a
global social drink
everyone recognises it in any language.
This Ethiopian native has taken the world by storm. I noticed that the Ethiopian name for coffee is not on the list above. That is a pity because without them – we most likely would not have our “daily pick me up”. (Hmm this phrase is more certainly a nickname as well.)
In Amharic – the Ethiopian language, coffee is called "bunn" or "buna". As the coffee plant originates from a place called Kaffa – it is sometimes called “Kaffa bunn”. Some believe that is where the term coffee bean comes from.
I still had some time left before my friend arrived. As most guests were sitting outside – I could easily make photos of inside the café.
Soon my friend arrived and we placed our simple order.
I got a cappuccino and she had juice.
Not coffee's nickname, but real juice as she is on a juice fast. I thoroughly enjoyed my cappuccino. It was strong and bold enough with just the right amount of foam and milk. I was happy that my coffee was not adorned with cinnamon or cocao powder – that is for another experience.
After catching up for an hour, we decided to walk and talk. Maybe moving would feel more comfortable than sitting under the awnings in the shade. As we walked along the shopping street - it seems to radiate the sweltering heat.
I was impressed with this lovely Japanese camellia plant and that the blooms were still so beautiful in the heat. I had to get closer to capture its beauty.
We sought out trees for protection as the searing sun seemed to pierce our skins.
These maple trees are so sturdy and graceful.
After saying goodbye to my friend, I walked towards the park. I love this area – everything is so wild and beautiful.
I sought the most shaded paths
or walked close to water.
One would assume that it would be a bit cooler at the water's edge
but I felt zero cooling.
Thereafter, I came to this path with these mosaiced balls.
Only one had a saying on it. I moved closer.
It read -
Some people dance in the rain - others just get wet.
Bob Marley
I felt it was a great reminder to:
truly live life, enjoy, appreciate and savour even the small moments and not just go through the motions.
This was also directly applicable to the current weather. It should not matter whether it is hot or cold – we should make the most of life - if and when we can.
It was a perfect quote to sum up my walk - on a sizzling hot day.