A shot of espresso with a dash of foamed milk.

An excellent way to enjoy a shot of coffee, best taken standing at the bar. It is socially acceptable to drink anytime of the day, not marking you out as the sort of person who would drink a capuccino after lunch.

The splash of milk makes the espresso more palatable. But do not spoil this by adding sugar.

A macchiato is also cheap. Even standing in a cafe right by the Rialto bridge I have still paid only one euro for a macchiato.

Enjoy, but be careful, by the time you leave Italy you will be having one of these an hour.

Any Cafe, Bar

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This is a walled, Tuscan hill top town on a small scale. You can drive up to the town, park your car in the shade beside the town wall, gaze out over the valley below and walk five minutes through cobbled streets to a town square with a selection of good restuarants.

This is a very pretty little town that is worth a visit and is out of the way enough to not be crawling with tourists. And still only a few minutes drive from A1, the main motorway north from Rome. I've driven up here to eat in the past, rather than stop for lunch at a motorway services.

Also the setting for Under the Tuscan Sun, apparently.

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Booking directly through Trenitalia's website is easy, and a bargain compared to rail travel in Britain. There are lots of discounts available too, we were able to find Eurostar tickets between Rome and Venice for Eu29. However, the standard first class fare is only Eu74. That is the most you could possibly pay, for a journey that is the equivalent of London to Edinburgh (but is over faster).

For our convenience their website is even in English.

www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

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I had an excellent meal here. Sashimi, lobster and a tuna steak. This is a good restaurant, has a great fresh fish menu and a good wine list. It's also very reasonably priced in comparison to eating in London. But that whole Yaletown area is like a baby Shoreditch, an uber-trendy outpost in a frontier town.

1095 Hamilton St;
tel: 604 688 8078;
www.bluewatercafe.net

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