The always on-point street art collective INDECLINE recently completed a stealthy appropriation of an advertising billboard in Los Angeles to continue their attack on the ongoing shitshow in the White House. The clever work manages to reference 1970s serial killer John Wayne Gacy and the clown-in-chief’s comment about shooting someone on 5th Avenue in NYC and not alienating his moronic followers.
Last week coffee played an inordinately large role in stories on TBTP. This week, I thought that I would follow-up with some feedback from readers on their favorite joe joints. The first suggestion that I received was from Micheal W., who offered a twofer—a coffee shop that is also a bookstore.
Michael’s preferred coffee spot/reading hangout is State College, Pennsylvania’s beloved Webster’s Bookstore & Cafe . The quirky downtown spot is a refuge for Happy Valley’s university students, staff, locals, and visitors. I actually spent sometime in Webster’s previous book/cafe years ago when I was at the Penn State University for a work conference. So I understand the affection for this institution, which is packed with more than 80,000 secondhand books and tons of vintage vinyl.
Webster’s was an early pioneer in sourcing Fair Trade and organic coffees. The shop also has been the go to cafe for vegan and vegetarian fare for decades. You can depend on the shop for both a great cup of coffee and terrific food. If you visit, be sure to check-out the Telepoem Booth. This installation, which is actually a retro-fitted 1970 phone booth, allows visitors to dial up recorded poetry on an old school rotary telephone—ask your grandparents about that. If you have a fav coffee spot from your travels, hometown, or university days, comment or message me.
Westport, Connecticut-based writer Jane Green is a big supporter of the Little Free Library project, but when she was prevented from building one in her own neighborhood she came up with a novel solution—the Remarkable Bookcycle. Green’s mobile free library was created from an old three-wheeled cargo bike and decorated to pay homage to a defunct beloved Westport bookstore called the Remarkable Bookshop. Although the store closed more than twenty years ago, Green fondly recalls the bookshop’s place in the town’s literary community.
Throughout the summer, the Remarkable Bookcycle has been visiting local beaches, parks, and public places distributing free books to all interested readers young and old.
Only true bibliophiles like us would visit the French Quarter in New Orleans and make a beeline for an old bookstore instead of a bar. Beckham’s Bookshop has been a venerable institution in the Crescent City for more than fifty years. The three-story shop is packed with handsome bookcases brimming with antiquarian, collectible, and secondhand titles. The Decataur Street fixture specializes in history, art, design, militaria, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and the Old South. There’s even a floor dedicated to secondhand vinyl.
Beckham’s Bookshop is open seven days a week and has a smaller just as eclectic branch called Librairie Books near the famous Jackson Square.
La Librairie de la Lune, Brassaï 1938
If you ever find yourself in western Massachusetts or southern Vermont, make some time for a detour to the Book Mill in the village of Montague, Massachusetts. It’s well worth the time to track down this beautiful little bookshop with the self-effacing slogan “books you don’t need in a place you can’t find”. Everything about that quote is inaccurate—the shop is packed with a well curated stock of secondhand and new titles and they are situated not that far from U.S Interstate 91. Best of all, the bookstore is in a bucolic setting by a river and housed in an early 19th century grist mill.
Yesterday’s post on the new Museo Lavazza coffee museum in Turin got me thinking about just how important coffee is in my daily life and when I’m traveling. As a home roaster of raw green coffee beans, I take the brown elixir very seriously. When I’m away from home, one of the first things that I will do is search out local coffee houses. And not just any joe joint will do, I have to find the shops that do their own roasting, or at the very least purchase their beans from a local small scale roaster.
What’s your coffee routine when you are away from home? Is discovering local coffeeshops an important part of your travel experience ? How do you discover that special coffee spot? Drop me a note or make a comment below, if coffee makes your world go ’round too. Share some of your favorite brew spots from your travels or even your home town.
I have preferred coffee establishments wherever I travel. For example, in Reykjavik, I always try and stay within a 10-minute walk of Reykjavik Roasters. Iceland has a rich coffee culture, and Reykjavik is dotted with great coffee spots, but I love the small batch roasts and cozy atmosphere at RR. In fact, on my last visit, I rented an Airbnb on the same block so that I could get my fix first thing in the AM.
Lavazza, the world famous coffee producer, has just opened it new headquarters at Piazza Nuvola in Torino, Italy. While that might not be exciting to some readers, those of us who think that coffee makes the world go round are thrilled. The stunning new corporate HQ also includes an all new Museo Lavazza, which takes a deep dive into coffee production, history, and culture, with 52 interactive installations.
Visitors to the museum are guided through the exhibitions by a “smart’ coffee cup, which activates digital displays. Along the five designated coffee routes, one can visit a coffee production facility, see historic advertising and media displays, learn about coffee consumption rituals, discover coffee culture mysteries, and even sample a unique museum blend.
The Museo Lavazza is open Wednesday through Sunday, with a 10€ admission fee for adults.
Torino, 12-04-2018. Inaugurazione nuova sede generale Lavazza chiamata Nuvola. nella foto il Museo Lavazza
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