Along with 114 of our friends, Amazing Journeys departs on July 10 for a twelve night cruise to some truly “amazing” places. We’ll be seeing the Acropolis in Greece, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Amalfi Coast in Italy…even the Turkish Baths in, well…Turkey! About half the group will be joining us for a “pre-cruise” in Rome on the days leading up to the cruise…and do we ever have some great sites to see, including The Coliseumm The Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, and a tour of Jewish Rome. If you’re part of the 114, we can’t wait to see you. Get ready to be part of this blogsite in the near future as we bring the joys and memories to life. If you didn’t make it on this trip, we hope you’ll consider one of our others. (If a cruise in the Mediterranean is something you might be interested in…check out our website for details on next year’s cruise from Barcelona to Seville, Spain….The Canary Islands…and Morocco, to name a few.

With the pre-cruise in Rome looming…we’re outta here! “Ciao Ciao”
Do I smell gelato??

Being the coffee snob I am, traveling the globe puts a crimp in my morning Starbucks routine. While yes, Starbucks IS everywhere (including out-of-the-way places like Skagway, Alaska and at the Forbidden City in Beijing) there are as many choices of java establishments as there are countries in the world. But…how you order that shot of espresso or skinny latte can also vary just as much. If you order a simple “coffee” in some countries, what you get might shock your taste buds.

Here are a few samples of proper Java Jargon to help you navigate the world of ordering a coffee across the globe:

In Australia:
“Flat White”: Coffee with milk
“Flat Back”: Coffee without milk
“Short Black”: shot of espresso
“Tall Black”: double espresso

In Costa Rica:
“Cafè con lechè”: Coffee with milk (not to be confused with the French and southern US take on coffee with milk: “Cafe au lait”)

In Italy (Thanks Jaffa, for your contribution!):
“Caffè” (kah-FE) : We might call it espresso; but Italians do a small cup of very strong coffee, topped with a caramel-colored foam called “crema”, a very important element.

“Posso avere un caffe con latte”: Can I have a coffee with milk”?

In Singapore:
“Kopi-o”: Coffee without milk

In Spain:
Café Cortado is Carajillo: espresso spiked with liquor (often brandy or whiskey)… which comes in quite handy after a long and full night of tapas crawling.

In China:
Best to order tea.
…or go to the nearest Starbucks (yes there are Starbucks scattered throughout the nation) and play it safe with a skinny latte. Can’t promise where the milk came from, though.

In America:
“Vente light mocha frappa no whip, skinny, double shot, foamy macchiato ramba lamba ding dong”

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

You may accustomed to dropping your extra change in that very obvious tip box at your local coffee shop, but when it comes to tipping service-oriented personnel in foreign countries, the opinions are as varied as the sizes of the coins in England (also known as “pence”, in case you didn’t know).

Americans are tip-happy. There is no question that we tip more than any country in the world. Tip jars in coffee shops, tip the hairdresser, tip the cabbie, tip the porter….and of course, we tip our waitresses sometimes in excess of 20%. While the recipients are welcome takers, we over tip to the tune of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per person per year.

So be it. Its our culture..its our nature..and if we want good service, we feel the providers are deserving. And so, we tip. But, what about other countries; do service personnel in South America or Japan or Australia have the same expectations? The answer is a resounding “no” they do not. As a matter of fact, in some countries the attempt to present a gratuity can be perceived as a flagrantly rude show of wealth, or worse it can be an insulting gesture to their culture. On the other hand, in some countries, rounding up to the next dollar amount is sufficient…or a simple 10% gratuity is appropriate.

There really are no steadfast rules, but here is a little guideline to help you decipher the ‘what goes around comes around’ phenomenon in the world of tipping:

TAXIS:
South America, Australia, Hong Kong – round up to the next dollar (or peso) amount
India, China – no gratuity expected
Italy, France, South Africa: 10%

RESTAURANTS:
Italy, England, New Zealand, Africa – “service charge” usually included, but adding 5-10% is customary
China – 3% is the norm
Japan – considers it an insult to tip

HOTEL PORTERS:
Latin America: equivalent of $2 total for up a three-star hotel. No more than $5 at a 4-star and up.
Africa: equivalent of $1 per bag
Fiji, Tahiti: Tipping is not customary nor expected.

When in doubt, the best rule of thumb is to simply ask the question. “May I give you a little something?” or “Is this acceptable?” as you hand over a small gratuity. This will elicit a proper response that will allow you depart the situation feeling like you did the right thing.

NEWS YOU CAN USE:
The Rules of Engagement are still changing in the airline industry. Now that many airlines have implemented a per bag charge for checked luggage, get ready for even more stringent carry-on baggage rules. Move over all the dictators in the world; United, USAirways, American and the likes will now be staffing Conan the Barbarian at the airline gates to enforce the carry-on laws that have been so commonly flouted.
The “law” (notice we’ve hardend our verbage over the more flexible word “rule”) states that fliers can take one small bag and one personal item like a purse or briefcase. Despite the anticipation that passengers will try to maximize their carry-on-ability to avoid the checked bag fees, the airlines are adding staff to enforce the previously unenforced law. Size will matter in this vain (and so will quantity). The idea of pulling passengers aside at the boarding gates with too much or oversized carry-on lugguge is floating around the CEO power meetings.
If inflicted with this enforcement, be prepared for additional delays at the check-in lines. And…in their race for space in the overhead bins, get ready for pushy passengers trying to board the planes ahead of all the rest.

Next, they’ll be charging for soft drinks. Oh wait. USAirways will be…starting in August.
Then…get ready for the $.25 deposit slot to recline your seat.