A picture of love
When I was in Japan, I discovered coffee with orange? Hot coffee or Iced Coffee, with Orange zest or juice. Did you know about this? I think I’d been living under a rock. Funny, once I got home I started to see this coffee errrrrywhere.
Once I got back into my home rhythm, did all the chores that had backed up while I was away, I decided to dress up and head into the city, solo date. I love day in the city. This day cost me around $15. It doesn’t need to be expensive to take yourself out for a few hours if your crafty.
Popped my camera in my tote bag, took a swipe of red lippie, slipped on my new Onitsuka Tiger Yellow Sneakers and my favourite dress. I caught the bus into the city, people watching all the way. No Airpods for this lady. I want to see and hear it all. Busybody not much, observer I call it!
Side note: I love The Broadsheet, their weekly newsletters are a great source of whats new, what’s good, new cafes, old cafes, but always good ones.
One of the Broadsheets recent email dispatches mentioned a new orange flavoured cold drip coffee. Taking their recommendation with my new Japan friends votes, I took myself to Romolo Espresso Cucina, situated snuggly in The Strand Arcade. Honestly, just sitting on my stool at the bar, is like a little gift to yourself, a free artful experience. Deciding to go off piste from my tested and true order of 1 x Flat White, I gingerly ordered The Mont Blanc. While it was being assembled (yes I say that as it is a work-of-art) I indulged in my hobby of people watching. Following on from Emmie Rae’s talk in Japan on Poetic Writing, I took to noticing the smaller details of two ladies sitting near me, one eating her caesar salad with an elegance that eludes me while I eat salad, and another lady sweetly sharing a pot of tea with her husband. All 3 dressed to the 9’s.
I started to notice beautiful things about these two ladies, both fresh from their style & set I imagine.
Lady 1 and her husband sipped tea and chatted, often pausing to simply smile at each other and look around. I felt like it was a purposeful outing for them, a day date perhaps. The magic happened after they finished and paid. They rose up out of their seats and slid their coats on and then came the poetic moment of true love. He slowly raised his arm up and gently draped it over her shoulders, she then …. slowly leant in, and this moment made me feel that they had been together a lifetime. The way she visibly relaxed and melted into him, melted my heart. I imagine they have done that small act countless times together. As they walked away together, I thought: That’s Love.
The second lady ate her lunch, looking around, smiling and seriously enjoying herself. She sat so comfortably, no awkward pulling out of her phone to keep her company, she simply sat and ate her lunch. So elegant, in a fitted woollen dress, a tweed jacket, along with tights and cute ankle high boots with zips. I loved her pearls, she had a matching set on and they glowed. Her lipstick matched her dress, a light dusky pink. I imagine that she was so comfortable with herself and that was decades in the making. As I finished my Mont Blanc, I walked past her and smelt perfume of violets. I thought, I wonder if my mother served her when she worked at From Paris With Love in the Stand Arcade many moons ago.
So, did I enjoy this new coffee The Mont Blanc? Not so much. But it was well worth the money to sit and watch life go by.
Where do you go to people watch? Do you have a favourite spot? I love seeing ladies older than me, their sense of style, the way they carry themselves. Of course, these ladies arent everywhere. You do have to find environments where they are likely to pop up though.
The Stand Arcade is definitely one of those special places ☕︎
