Bacino Baby!!!

Ok, I have done it....I have found the best coffee in the world. In Sydney, coffee could be an Olympic Sport. Every food stand, no matter how small, boasts a beautiful stainless steel espresso machine. Next to "HONK", the "SHWWWWSHWWW" of the milk foamer is the second most common sound in Sydney. Now that Sophie, from the coffee stand down at Cremorne wharf, has passed away, I have been sampling different coffee stands around the city.

Saturday morning, the kids had the 2nd of a three-week soccer training at Macquarie University. We must be there at 8:00 AM, so after a morning filled with finding shin guards, soccer cleats, filling water bottles and driving half-an-hour, I head off in search of some kind of liquid stimulant. I find a panel van set up at the training. There are the obligatory banana (pronounce bahnahnah) breads and muffins wrapped in "cling" as well as some packets of sugar and sweetner on a foldout table. In the back of the van, honest to God, was the most amazing stainless steel and copper espresso machine. I got a steaming hot skim latte (pronounced /lahhhtay/) at the soccer field!!! I was joking with the server. I said, "In America, you would be lucky if someone had run by to get coffee in a box with a spigot served with powdered creamer." He laughed. I always notice that the "front of the house" guys at coffee stands have all the fun. The poor barista usually has his/her back to you filling coffee order after coffee order after coffee order.... This will be good to remember if the kids want to work at a coffee stand.

Coffee seems to also have a fixed price. (Maybe it's a city ordinance...) No matter where you go the prices are Regular- $3.00, Large- $3.50. One and Two dollar denominations are in gold coins, so finding gold in your purse is so exciting..."I have enough for a coffee...." I know I should just get more sleep...then I wouldn't need coffee, but then I wouldn't get to hear the "SHWWWWSHWWWWSHWWW" sound. Ponygirl always says "Mom...there's your favorite sound..." I know my favorite sound should be the sound of children playing, the lapping of the ocean, kookaburra's screeching at 6:00AM... but no... it is the clinking of gold coins in my purse and the coffee frother.

OK, so when all of you flock to come visit me I will take you to Bacino (pronounced /bahcheeno/)Espresso. It is the smoothest, most delicious coffee in the world. The one in Kirribilli allows you to look out at the opera house from under the pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.....There is also one in Mosman that is cursed with the worst location in the world, but it is always packed!!! So, come to Sydney and we can chat up the front-of-house guy, play with gold coins, and enjoy a delicious cup of espresso....you too can become a Bacino Baby!!!

Vocabulary updates:

White Ant-an Australian termite. It eats wood away from the inside without you knowing it. It is used to describe someone who snipes or undermines someone or some organization/project behind the scenes.

Mufti Day- A day where someone who normally wears a uniform is allowed to wear normal clothes. Civvies. (This term refers to Arabian-based British soldiers who would wear a robe and fez on their day off...just like the Islamic mufti). Ponygirl & Surferdude have a Mufti Day on Tuesday.

Cling- Plastic wrap. Those of you who watch Nigella Lawson already know this.

Rego- /reh-jo/ license plate. "What is yo rego numbah?" (Uhhh.....?)

What I like this week:

1. Bottleshock: I love this movie. I saw it on "Cheap Tuesday" because it was a day of downpours. Bill Pullman as a Napa vintner (a word I learned from the movie...adding to the ole vocabulary), Alan Rickman as a failing British wine merchant/snob....name one movie either of these guys were in that hasn't been good if not great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYs0kblXToA It did well at Sundance, which usually means I will hate it, but this was such a great way to spend a rainy day. GO SEE IT!!!

2. Birthday Cakes: April is the month I get to make two. I do not have a mixer here (higher voltages will burn out American ones) so a big thank you to my neighbor who lent me hers. It must be 40 years old by my God can it mix. I would do anything to keep that machine alive.

3. Buses, trains & ferries: I got so sick of fighting traffic that I used the great transport system twice this week. It's nice to let someone else do the driving for you. (A honk free day in Sydney is like a cool breeze during a Texas summer...rare and spirit-lifting,)

What I don't like this week:

1. The Eastern Suburbs: This is the very shi shi poo poo part of Sydney. I go to a bible study @ St. Mark's Anglican Church each Thursday. One of the ladies in our group had a baby, so it was my turn to bring her some food. All the streets are very curvy, narrow and BUSY. Porsche's, BMW's, Volvo's, & Mercedes' (by far the most popular choice) fly around this area. Most of the drivers I see this time of day are women with big, black sunglasses. As I was taking all the food out of my car (I was parallel parked on the street...the only option), I realized that all these bug-eyed, glossy-haired women with their toddlers in the backseat would rather kill me then slow down. Because I was in front of the church, God must have sent a shield down to protect me. I actually made it to the other side. (Hardly any buses go to this part of town so I will have to drive. With all the amazing cars and shops, buses might bring down the rents

2. BigDogDaddy being out of town: I stay up too late doing too many projects. Plus, he always empties out his change at the end of each day...he leaves the gold coins on the nightstand for my coffee addiction...I have had to scrounge this week. He will be home Saturday...yeah. I don't want any caffeine-deficient headaches!