Cafes...

I love cafe culture. I love small un-franchised cafes. I love personal relations in cafes: with the waiter/waitress, with the cashier, with the owner, with the friend that I go to the cafe with. I love meeting at a cafe. One of the best things with Istanbul is, along with so many other things, when you don’t know what to do, you just go to Istiklal Caddesi, look around, feel your instincts, go to a cul de sac, find an apartment block on that cul de sac, go to the 5th floor of that apartment block and discover two cafes facing Bosphorus with its glorious view with lovely proper Turkish tea. There are as many cafes in Istanbul as there are sea seagulls in Bosphorus and discovering cafes is an addiction that you’ll enjoy more and more everyday.. and you collect memories as you discover each cafe: one with the moment that you broke up with your boyfriend, one in which you listened to your friend’s news (she got engaged with a man she knows only for a short time), one in which you studied for your final exams in your 3rd year at the university, one in which you had deep philosophical conversations, one in which you played the guitar and everyone sang together, one in which you learned how to play backgammon...
I love cafes... I love cosiness, the comfort that you feel at cafes...
Well, finding cafes in the UK is as hard as seeing seagulls in Birmingham city centre. If there are any, they are franchised: the same decor, the same taste. Nothing is exciting to discover. I went to Northfield in Birmingham today. There was a cafe, but actually it was more of a diner than a cafe. I really liked the atmosphere there. There was a sign on the wall:

I ordered a baguette with a can of fizzy drink+crisps for only £1.99 and then maybe waited for 5 minutes waiting for the food. Then, the lady served the baguette with a large plate of chips and then we said we didn’t order any chips, she said it took such a long time for her to serve the food that she wanted to compensate for it. And then brought another can of fizzy drink again saying it took a long time for her to serve. Moreover? The baguette had more tuna than any baguette that I’ve ever seen. Customers seemed to be locals and friendly... It’s such a nice feeling to find nice places to eat... The Clock Cafe (yes it has many big clocks in it) is 1 minute to the Northfield Pool and Fitness Centre. By the way, gym and pool centres in Birmingham are free to all who are residents in Birmingham until 2011 (I guess).