#3 Red Cacao

#3 Red Cacao, Stirling, Adelaide Hills

redcacao.com.au

High five me with a grin, a slice of chocolate and a coffee on the side! This is SUCH a cute place. Small enough that it could be your entranceway to your overly large 27 bedroom home, Red Cacao offer a treat for the senses that I haven't met in other places before. It was such a choice place for many locals and Adelaidians on their late Saturday morning that some people even didn't bother with the option to wait a few minutes for a table to free up, but took takeaway options instead. Mind you, it was a gloriously wintery day in Stirling - foggy, constant rain, autumnal leaves still adding colour to the grey skies, people rugged up with beanies and scarves and long thick jackets.

So, you've been seated, and your drinks have been ordered. Not only do you get some triple coated almonds to demolish while your eyes take in the sight of your presented choices, they pair what coffee you choose with what 2 chocolates that match your drink. BRAVO! for such a great idea. I went off the regular trail and opted a choice of the Barista Blend mug of Flat white - a fruity bright bean of origin I am not sure, which was paired with a delicate Vanilla chocolate that had a melt in your mouth soft centre, and also a Hazelnut chocolate. I am pretty sure I was exhausting everyone with my grunts of appreciation and "I totally blog food - not" commentary - while my friend Miss K did the same from her palate of appreciation.

We also had some fruit (?) loaf - which was the perfect savoury addition to the somewhat sweet choices we had on our table already. Buttered those slices of loaf up and enjoy the beautiful warm bread and goodness!

And then what more could be better after such a fabulous feast, but to feast your eyes around the township of Stirling in the beginnings of winter. Such joy for the senses, and a perfect way to spend the weekend morning.

The Coffee List Thus Far

The list keeps growing...

Read up reviews so far:
Cafe #1 - Mockingbird Lounge
Cafe #2 - The Little Fig

#2: The Little Fig, Melrose Park

#2: The Little Fig, Melrose Park - Find them on Yelp!... here

Its little, its almost hidden, its quiet - but it just feels right on a surprisingly active street where sits The Little Fig. Surrounded by teeny places such as a bakery that has tradies shipping through at a fast pace, a ceramics and tiling shop that runs classes while you run your eyes over the goods, and a few other interesting shops including ones to purchase somewhat expensive dust collectors at. But its there, and this neighbourhood has never looked so full!

Staffed by two, the menu is simple but very good. The coffee was made well and was exactly what I needed from the moment my lips hit the cup till the final milk moustache was wiped. The foccacia I ate had the right combination of flavours and colours and had me slowing my rate of consumption to enjoy the flavours - forgive me but I'm vague on what it was called. There was Salami and tomatoes, spinach and feta on a yummy bread of sorts. Reading through the magazines was only required part time, while people watching through the glass to outside of the shop added to the glazed over look I occasionally fell into considering I had just finished work.

For the size and location, it was surprisingly busy for 1:30pm, and by 2pm I was the sole occupant listening to the banter of the staff working which both entertained and amused me.

A great place to bring a couple of people for brunch I would assume, and I would aim to do that even in the summer months because the sun would warm this little shop right up and keep those sitting outside in happy sunshine good vibe-ness. A definite re-do is necessary.

#1: Mockingbird Lounge, Glenelg

 #1 - Mockingbird Lounge, Glenelg, South Australia

http://www.mockingbirdlounge.com.au/

Meet the Mockingbird Lounge - which if you were like me and hadn't been privvy to its sass and vibe - is the place you have quite literally ALWAYS wanted to go to: a bookshop, filled with nooks, grannies and crannies, and plenty of rooms to sit in where you can drink hot beverages and eat delicious food amongst that not-so-musty library smell - while attempting to stealthly beat your opponent at a board game. 

Is there more you want to ask for?

From the front, it looks like a teeny tiny place. At this point, you might even hesitate to enter. You step in the door, and to your right the front counter is laden full of delicious yums to tease you. On most of the walls throughout this beautiful cafe (sorry, Lounge) are tall bookshelves, filled with books beloved by people for you to purchase. On the other walls displays art for sale or funky gifts you can get for your loved ones 
(even if the loved one is yourself).

Listen to the hilarious reasonings for why your neighbours who are playing "up words" think their word is actually in the dictionary and that its real. Listen to the ladies discuss the fashion of famous Adelaidian's that they have seen turn up to events. ("Come on, Nicole (identity hidden footballers family member), you're too old to wear that skirt - even though we all want to wear that skirt, we wouldn't"). Listen to the laughter from the studio at the very end of the property - the studio with the BookClub meeting on Saturdays.
And the yums I got to try today - I had two delicious flat white coffees in not-so-quaint mugs your granny would raise her eyebrows at, with a white chocolate and raspberry muffin. YUM! Such a fun place to visit - very easy to get to - and now another home-away from home for me down here near the seaside.
And the yums I got to try today - I had two delicious flat white coffees in not-so-quaint mugs your granny would raise her eyebrows at, with a white chocolate and raspberry muffin. YUM! Such a fun place to visit - very easy to get to - and now another home-away from home for me down here near the seaside.

Get your Jane Austen collection in a vintage bound book for $10. I'm serious. Walk through the rooms that are filled with chatter and laughter about life and continue out to the back - a formerly shaded area that has been opened up to allow the sun to shine on you.  Grab a table amongst your newest friends (you may call them 'people you haven't met yet') and get your serious game face on.

Did your eyes read correctly? BookClub. Much like the Jane Austen Book Club, but with a twist. You can join up a group together and read through a Mockingbird Lounge book of the month, catching up to share your thoughts and ideas. Or, you can join up as an individual and be put into a group with others of whom you may not even know and whose opinions may marry or clash very greatly with your own. OR, you can bring your book club to utilise the bookclub of the Mockingbird Lounge - so you don't have to organise your own books for a while. And its pretty cheap ($10 per month).

29 New Coffee Places Before I Turn 30

The topic about my age once again popped up this past week in conversation with friends. Being quite boisterous and lively, I find many people believe I'm still quite young and untainted by the world, and it seems that more often people are a little surprised to find I'm 28 (still). Or, they think I'm really, really immature (and youthful looking). 

Let not my 16 year old hormonal skin fool you.

Being just over a year away from being 30 is no big deal to me. I say "bring it on" to each number that gets clocked onto my age. I really enjoy celebrating my birthday, because it gives me a chance to see some people who I often haven't seen in months. I don't love the spotlight of a birthday party - seriously, when people sing at you, where do you look? - but I absolutely enjoy spending time with friends and reflecting on memories of things we've done together in life. Every year brings a new adventure, and every adventure brings the chance to understand who I am and my place in this world.

Upon hearing of my 'coming of age(d)', there was a suggestion to do a Buckets List which gives me a chance to be inspired about what things I want to achieve on a student budget to help give attention to those hours where I need to study. However, a second suggestion of a count down of coffee places pricked my ears up quick. As a partaker of a coffee flavoured beverage at least twice a day, and a enjoyer of cafe's both near and far from my home, the idea to purposefully discover new cafes AND do a count down sounds too exciting to pass up. Plus, being a student, its quite easy to afford a coffee out every now and then.

So, feel free to join along as I detail the places that I visit, depicting greatness and notability, and the occasional bumsteer to avoid at all measures.

Cafe #1: Cafe #2:

The Alpha (the Beginning)

Putting the title as "das Verständnis" may make you think that you have arrived at the wrong page due to a faulty link because of the foreign language, but I assure you, that title was put there on purpose.

Not a newcomer to the realm of blogging, I'm an old hand at the art of whipping a post into being. In previous blogs I never really had a direction of what that blog would be, starting off aimlessly and ending much the same way. A thought would pop into my head and it would become a script read by others, but it never felt exactly right. Having left the realm of blogging for what I felt was a long time, I have been fondly thinking of things I could write about again, and have now been inspired to re-blog life as I know it.

Das Verständnis is German for understanding, comprehending, appreciating, having insight, to grip and to grasp. This is what I want this blog to be. A reflection of the experiences that encompass everyday life - with these things in mind. Though experiences are unique to individuals they are often best shared. There are few people who do life by themselves.

Above all things, I am passionate to serve the Lord Jesus, as well as my family and friends. Many people in my life do not have a faith in Jesus like I do, but I am not here to judge anyone, only to love people for exactly who they are and their importance to me. People accept the choices and beliefs of those they care about, and through doing life together, learn to understand what their passions and inner beliefs are.

Now that you've read this and been warmly welcomed, perhaps this blog is exactly what you wanted to find. Perhaps, sadly, this is not.