I ate a bagel for the first time in over a month…and it was amazing!
Bagels, an easy-to-find, delicious staple in the U.S. are very difficult to find in Italy. Coffee bars in Italy are never short on homemade croissants filled with chocolate, cream or jam, nor will you have a hard time finding homemade muffins, pastries, or gelato. Bagels, on the other hand, are nowhere to be found. They aren’t even sold in the grocery store!
I was hunting for a new place to get a cappuccino and I came across California Bakery, a bakery/cafe very close to my university. I walked in and stood at the counter looking confused, as usual, until someone who spoke English prompted me to find a seat.
Side note: In Italy, ordering at cafes is always different. In some you order at the bar and take your drink to your seat, and at others you sit first and order from the table. Sometimes you pay first and give your receipt to the baristas, and sometimes you pay after. I am still learning how to tell which way to order when I enter a new bar.
I picked a seat in the corner next to a window. I was feeling a little homesick and the weather was getting me down and I needed a quiet space where I could relax. When I got the menu I couldn’t believe that BAGELS were listed on it, AND they offered CREAM CHEESE. I can’t even explain my excitement over finding bagels.
The waiter came by and took my order – a cappuccino and a bagel with cream cheese. Again, I was way too overzealous about this bagel, but I just couldn’t help it.
I haven’t felt more at home since I’ve been here than I did when I ate the sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and sipped on my cappuccino. It took me right back to Boone, to the days I spent in Crossroads, eating bagels and drinking lattes with my friends while discussing our weekend plans, studying, and deciding where we were going to go hiking next. It also reminded me of going home and spending time with my brother, getting up in the morning and going to Einstein’s bagels, or the times we would explore uptown Charlotte, finding new coffee shops to try. I was even taken back to days spent with my best friend, who is a total bagel guru, finding only the best places to eat bagels.
Yes, it may sound ridiculous, but this one bagel brought back all of these memories and made me feel right at home.
The littlest things can pick you up and make you feel refreshed and excited. Even if it’s just a bagel.
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