I’m delighted to report that there is (are) no Starbucks in Florence.  I have nothing against Starbucks in general, but Italy has an old and established coffee culture of its own and I am so happy that no New World influence has not been able to change that, at least so far.

Once in a while around Florence I see college co-eds walking around with a to-go coffee that they purchased in the handful of bars that will sell their brew in a styrofoam cup.  There are a couple of New World type coffee houses here, but they don’t seem to be very popular.

Why is that?  This video tells the story:

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-42750584/why-italians-are-saying-no-to-takeaway-coffee