{Living the City ~ Florence} Arnold Coffee American Bar

by Julia

Here in Italy we don’t really have a coffee shop – like mindset. We do have coffee shops of course, but they’re completely different from what you would expect [especially if you are from the US/UK/Asian countries]: you just stand at the counter, drink your espresso or cappuccino, eat a brioche and then go your way. We don’t have the tradition of grab-your-drink-and-the-sit-for-the-whole-afternoon-in-the-lounge kind of concept.

Did I mention that we don’t have Starbucks? [Actually I heard something about it opening in Milan in a not so near future, but nothing is confirmed yet].

Florence is a rather traditional city and we don’t usually get to experience the international flavour, so I was somewhat astonished when I discovered a Sturbacks-like coffee shop downtown: Arnold Coffee.

I first experienced this kind of place back when I was studying in Japan. After college classes were over I would take the bus and go to the nearest Starbucks [right in front of Hirakata shi station], order my Green Tea Latte and perch on the chair closest to the window to finish my Japanese homeworks and book readings. なつかしい~

Here is a close up of one of my favourites at Arnold: caramel hot chocolate & whipped cream with chocolate sauce (♥ω♥*) I’m not a great fan of coffee so my choice is always for the less coffee-ish product possible.

I often come here with my laptop and planner to complete a bit of admin tasks and also write some blog post/read my favourite blogs in peace. These are activities that I usually find difficult to fit into my daily schedule, even now that I’m much more at home then before. I yet have to try coming here to just chill out reading a book or a  漫画. Mmmmmmh, intriguing idea…

Here’s another close up: vanilla latte with topping of whipped cream and vanilla sauce. For me, the sweeter the better (°◡°♡).:｡ Unfortunately we’re coming to that horrible season of the year in which is too hot for almost everything -.- of course they serve cold drinks but usually I tend no to go out in summer [I prefer staying home with my face glued to the air con].

I wish I could have more places like this – but that’s fine, considering the in a few months I’ll be living in Uk and I won’t have problems finding suitable coffee shops ⌒°(❛ᴗ❛)°⌒ In any case, there are still a few places in Florence I need to explore, the journey has just begun!