I’m sitting at the desk, blank page open ready to begin another blog post, with my head lying on my hands as I day-dream about what to write.  I have literally no idea.  Whatever follows from these two paragraphs will be as unexpected to me now, as it will be to you as you’re reading this.

Today Alex and I drove into town.  We went for coffee in a cosy funky little cafe on George’s Quay, “Filter”, which reminded me strongly of our recent trip to Dublin when we visited 3FE, an awesome equally funky cafe with amazing coffee and truly delicious food.

Filter is a coffee lover’s heaven and its owner a chic coffee connoisseur, who made up the perfect blend of filter coffee for me after I’d dipped my nose in several jars of chocolate-coloured coffee beans.

I love my morning coffee but can only handle caffeine in small doses and even the weakest of coffees in this place is guaranteed to keep you going for several days on end.

But this coffee – a softer, more subtle and nuanced version of the typical espresso blend – went down like liquid gold.  It gave just the right amount of ‘oomph’ without sending my pulse racing.  It was exquisite.

And while avocado and tomato toast wasn’t possible, the thick fresh slice of banana bread I opted for went down just as well.

Afterwards we headed on to the English market to get supplies.  First stop the cheese stall, where I bought a wedge of Gouda infused with Mediterranean-style herbs, and a packet of long, crunchy bread sticks, the kind Italians snack on before a meal.

Next stop the bread stall, where we got a fancy-shmancy loaf of spelt sourdough which was sliced there and then for us.

Last stop before we left the bustling indoor market was the olive stall, where I picked up some home-made hummous and olives stuffed with garlic.

By the time we reached the car, laden down with our artisanal, locally produced goodies, my wallet was a fair bit lighter but my contentment a whole lot fuller.

I may not yet be able to live in Italy or France and enjoy, among other things, all their culinary delights, nor do I live in Dublin with its buzzing coffee shops and ‘happening vibe’.  But I do live in a great little town called Cork, with the very best Mediterranean supplies and some of the best coffee anywere, practically on my doorstep… and that’s pretty awesome as far as I’m concerned.

Pretty freakin’ awesome.

Ciao darlings!

Lizzie xxxx