Friday, January 7, 2011

"It's time to change" An experience by Rachel and Inga:

After spending hours exploring the ancient Roman baths, we were ready to indulge in some local Italian flavor. We happened to wander into a little coffee shop that seemed to be quite popular with the local people. At this quaint cafe, we were introduced to dozens of croissants, tortes, and pastries. While we stewed over what to order, the locals became a bit impatient as they nudged through to get their rush of afternoon espresso. Finally Rachel decided to order a donut (something she was able to name). Not wanting to hold up the line she attempted to order. Immediately the waiter shook his head and said, "No, you must change." A bit confused at what this meant, Rachel followed the waiter to the other side of the display case. He pointed out several of the local favorites. Though none of us could understand the names, we recognized some had pistachio, and others had vanilla or chocolate cream. Feeling a bit rushed and confused, we each pointed to one and also ordered a cafe latte. After we ordered the waiter handed us our treats. Just then, the waiter shooed us into the tiny back room to dine without having yet paid. Though we were afraid we would be charged extra for being waited on as tourists, we followed our "orders". After trying the pastries we could have cared less if we were going to be over-charged because the pastries were better than any bakery treat we had tried before. But as we went to pay we were pleasantly surprised. It turns out that no one was trying to take advantage of us. It was very clear that we were tourists, and this native was just trying to give us a taste of his native cuisine. And as it turned out, the man working in the cafe was right. It was time for a change.

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