ound floor of the creamiest block of art deco flats in a whole cul-de-sac of creamy art decosity. The atmosphere there is one of pure, quiet, early-twentieth-century leisure, which is rare on that side of the Yarra. You can rely on your coffee to arrive a full fifteen minutes after you order it, giving you plenty of time to become absorbed in the Saturday paper, or a magazine or a book. Your breakfast will arrive not long after, and there is plenty of space on the table to spread out your reading material around your plate.The café we’ve been sniffing around the door of most in Townsville is a brand new one called Squires, and it is as different from Lawson’s Grove as it is possible for two cafés to be. Nonetheless, we have been going there quite a bit because the coffee is the best in town – and I don’t mean that in a snobby way, it’s just that coffee isn’t really taken as seriously around here as, well, as it ought to be – plus the chairs there are quite comfy and the music is low and unobtrusive. In short, it’s a great place to sit for a while with a coffee and some cake if we deserve it, and have a good read. And on Friday evening we did just that.
Whereas the proprietress at Lawson’s Grove will greet you with a beautifully understated casual glance, proprietress of Squires was openly happy to see us and, she said, our books. We sat. We drank mochas in enormous cups with saucers, and we ate some delicious carrot cake. It was lovely. Later on in the weekend I was thinking about the partnership of books and cafes which is well known everywhere in the world but, it seems, Townsville. The only people I’ve seen here sitting reading in a café are me and Hayden. I suppose that, to the locals, we must seem a little odd. Huh. Who’d have thought?
6 comments:
Ah, sitting in a cafe while reading or writing. One of my favorite things in the world. Maybe what Townsville needs is for you to open up a combo coffee used book store?
As it happens, I been thinking along those lines. But I worry that my only customer would be Hayden. I mean, I can't get him to pay for the coffee I make him at home, and as for getting him to read the books that I recommend ...
There is a place here that sells used books, coffee and these huge desserts that require a forklift to carry. On Friday nights they invite in local talent, poetry readings, bands etc. It is called Piece of Cake. I am always mad I didn't think of it first
hola. You probably don´t want to know this but Sucre, the capital of Boliva has great cafe's for sitting in, reading, drinking coffee, talking to folks and partaking in the occasional mojito. I´ve only been here for 3 hours but am very impressed.
I would also like to say that I didn't realise how nice it is to have comments on ones blog. So although I read all your posts it was not until Hayden started commenting on mine that I realised the importance of such feedback. So, I love your blog. MR
Thank you. It's very nice to be read, isn't it? And Hayden is quite a good commenter (though I have to say, he's nothing on Eileen).
Doing my best to avoid work- I have become- THE COMMENT GODDESS
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