Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I take it with me everywhere.

It’s more like a pet than a bike, only better. (Try getting your dog to carry you somewhere.)

This afternoon after wrapping up a series of stressful and challenging matters in my life, I needed a big fat reward. Bromp and I went to Costello’s, my favorite café in all of Portand -- minutes from my house as well as seconds from the whole rest of the world. Two wall mounted flat movie screens play endless footage of the owners’ travels, and their cinema-tography is as good as their food. You can’t find better quiche than theirs.
I could go on about their other assets, but let me cut to the main point: It’s called Pot de Crème, and it’s insanely good. With espresso, black. Don’t take anyone with you, it’ll distract you from the full experience. You have to concentrate on it – the texture, the darkness, the contrast of its perfect amount of sweetness with the bitterness of the coffee. Make it last as long as possible. It's ok to watch the movie, but NO READING. If you read, or talk to anyone, you’ll miss it. Ever get to the end of an article and wonder where your food went? That’s what I mean.
I flipped up the back wheel and rolled right in. Tucked it in next to me, right at the table. I’ve been doing this all over town. So far, no dirty looks, no unwelcoming comments. No uptight busybody employees of any establishment have ruined my party. I’m not sure how this will pan out when the rains start and the Bromp is trailing water and mud. It hasn’t rained since I got it, believe it or not, so the Wet Bromp Report is yet to come. But what am I doing? Let’s not think about rain till we have to.

Wanna bite?

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5 Comments:

At 12:34 PM, Blogger Dale said...

Okay, off to google Costello's...

 
At 2:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's certainly a handsome pet but its wheels are glowing again. Don't you think you should be concerned about this?

 
At 3:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What would you do if you were the shop owner and someone came in from the rain tracking stuff on the floor from their bike?

Just a thought.

 
At 4:18 PM, Blogger kate gawf said...

I can assure you that as a shop owner I'd hate that. I've already thought of it many times, and I'm making it a point to enjoy not having to worry about it during this gorgeous sunny weather.

I don't know what I'll do when it's all rainy and icky. Partly it depends on the type of shop. This IS Oregon, and shop keepers have to live with a certain amount of that. (Are you from out of town?) Look at what each person trails in from their own self, even without a bike. I feel bad sometimes walking into a natty little boutique trailing my own river. If a bike is going to make that even worse, I would hesitate. On the other hand, the Brompton is a lot smaller than those SUV baby strollers people bustle in with. No space too small for them. (Really, the size of those things is getting way out of control -- but that's a whole nother topic.)

I think I'll spend the rest of the summer trying out the Brompton in all my usual haunts. Then I'll figure out for each individual place how obnoxious it would be for me to bring it into with me during a monsoon.

How's that for a Plan A?

 
At 4:22 PM, Blogger kate gawf said...

Toni:
Yes, the wheels glow when it's excited. It doesn't bother me so far.

 

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