If I was to keep going in chronological order, this entry would be about Australia. But instead it is going to be about coffee cups.

Yes. Really.

If you don’t know me in real life you should really know that I have a serious problem and that is I really love Starbucks. Most of these mugs I bought myself in the cities they’re from, but a few of them, like Tokyo and Las Vegas, I needed to buy after I visited because in the case of LV they discontinued the LV before I went, and for Tokyo, I visited Tokyo before I was collecting them.  I’ve also travelled to more countries, just not all countries have Starbucks (yes, there are some strongholds in the world still that haven’t subsumed to having a Starbucks – here’s to you Italy, Fiji, and Slovakia)

So why am I writing an entire post about coffee cups? Because 1) I’m vain and I want to show off my collection. and 2) I need an excuse to tell you travelling tales.

Some of my mugs have really boring biographies. For Barcelona, I ran inside to buy it while my friends waited outside because we were headed to the mall. Amsterdam was purchased at the airport while I waited for my phone to connect to the Wifi.

Others, namely Cairo, Paris and Berga (that black one in the corner that isn’t Starbucks but it is worthy of being with my collection) have amazing (okay, just less mundane) tales attached to their ‘capture’.

Cairo. Leave it to six white girls to roam the streets of Cairo in search of a Starbucks. Of course we were told not to take the subway so we figured the best next option would be to simply walk to 2 odd kilometres Google Maps said it was from our apartment. We stuck to main roads, but ultimatly when we got to where Google Maps said it was, it most definitely was not there, nor ever was there. We were looking at an older apartment building, in a very residential area. We walked back out to the main street and accepted defeat. We had an adventure in Cairo so it was not all lost. It was a hot day despite being March (but we were all also wearing pants), we stepped into a corner store to buy some water and we had the idea of “why don’t we ask if the owner knows where the Starbucks is?” Firing up Google Translate (Google can both save the day and ruin it) to translate our question, the shop keeper pipes up “the Starbucks is…” and points down the street, “and to the…” and points to the right. We eventually found the Starbucks, no where near where Google Maps said it was, but none the less eventually it was found. (more of Cairo will be found later once I get around to writing it)

Pairs. The actual buying of the mug is rather boring. I walked around a major tourist centre of Paris until I found a Starbucks. Then I used my super amazing grade 8 French skills to buy it and a coffee. And then I waited. For what? For my best friend to show up. So? you’re asking, what makes meeting a friend in Paris incredibly note worthy? Well, first you need to realize that I, a Canadian, am meeting a friend in Paris and that is pretty sweet. Secondly, you need to realize that I hadn’t seen this friend in a year because I like running away from Canada. Thirdly, by some insanely small fluke, we were both able to be in Paris on the same day. Then that mug, which has the Eiffel Tower on it, climbed up the tower with me. So that’s also rad.

Berga. Berga as a whole will be discussed in so much more detail. But the story of why I have it is actually a very short story. My co-workers threw me a small going away party, what else do you get me? Of course, they bought me a mug with the city’s logo on it. They also apologized that it wasn’t Starbucks and that no one was skilled enough to make me a fake mug to look like the others.

So there you go. A little bit more about me and my souvenirs.