Coffee at Gloria Jean's

In January 2013, we started to make a list of the various jobs that needed doing around the house - from replacing clock mechanisms to major re-painting work. And many other major and minor tasks that simply weren't getting done. Richard and his sailing buddy had instituted an 'admnin' evening once a week to catch up with financial and other boat-related topics; so I suggested we allocate a few hours each week to work, slowly, through some of the things which we were either igoring or putting off.

Friday mornings seemed like a good idea; if we needed to go to the supermarket we would do that on a Friday, already. But by the stage we had this discussion, a couple of years ago, it often turned into a rush, squeezing the shopping in between many other activities.

So we decided that we would set aside Friday mornings every week to spend together, perhaps to shop; perhaps to do jobs around the house; perhaps to do other things. Richard suggested we might take time to have coffee out together from time to time; many people locally have coffee out regularly but it's not something I had ever done.

We started quite enthusiastically and achieved several things in our first few months of 'house admin'. We bought new plugs, Richard labelled some light switches and made some repairs... some Fridays we did nothing but shopping, and we were away for most April that year, and had the family staying in May.

I think we managed coffee out twice in the first year. Once was at Metro - the supermarket we like best - where we sat upstairs in their little cafe. The other time we were in town, waiting for something to be repaired, and had frappés at Alexander's.

In 2014 we progressed sporadically with the house admin; we did arrange for some important repairs to be done on the house, but it seems that the more we cross off the list, the more gets added on - and we still haven't done any of the re-painting. Nor did we have coffee out together.

Yesterday morning, we had to exchange something in a supermarket, and also check something with our insurer in town. So having done the first, we parked the car in the marina, and did the second. It was only about 10.30am; so Richard suggested we might have coffee somewhere along the sea front.

We were planning to walk to the far end, but then we came across Gloria Jean's:

I'd heard of it many times; it's a popular haunt for older teens and those in their twenties. But I had never been there. And I was struck by their 'cappy hour', offering 'buy one get one free' on weekday mornings.

So we went in, and were asked if we wanted hot or cold coffee. It was a sunny morning, so I decided to have a frappé, while Richard opted for a medium Americano coffee (with no milk, as he avoids dairy products). I wasn't sure if we'd still be eligible for the second drink free; however when we checked our bill we saw that we were. The frappé, slightly to my horror, cost €3.20 but the coffee was free, so it wasn't too extravagant, I guess.

We sat outside on comfortable armchairs, our drinks in front of us

I have frappés unsweetened, but almost wished I'd taken some sugar as the flavour was a little bitter; I couldn't work out exactly what it was, as it wasn't particularly strong. It almost tasted as if it had been lightly smoked. Not unpleasant, but not as delicious as I had hoped.

I finished it - though by the time I did, I was feeling decidedly chilly! There were a lot of ice cubes left at the bottom. Richard managed about two-thirds of his coffee before he felt caffeine overload and stopped. He said it was acceptable, but not the best coffee he's ever had.

There are dozens of places to have coffee along the sea front, so we decided to make a point of visiting more of them during the course of the year, to see how they compare. 

I doubt if we'll go to Gloria Jean's again, though.