Stranger in A Strange Land :
​The Beauty of Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Confessions of Crystal

Top Seven Coffee Shops in Colorado Springs

29/6/2016

1 Comment

 
I am back and blogging after my brief hiatus.  In case you were wondering, no, I did not forget I had a blog.  I've been stateside and engaging in all sort of interesting adventures in Colorado, which will have their own posts in due time.  

First, here is the follow-up post to the best coffee shops in London and Reykjavik, featuring the best coffee shops in Colorado Springs.  I realize that you might not think of Colorado Springs as a coffee destination, but after this, you might want to consider adding it to your list!  

Colorado Springs is where I transitioned from only drinking coffee if it was in the form of a sugar-laden Starbucks to the art of proper coffee.  Here are my top seven coffee shops, along with recommendations for the first four.
Picture
The latte art is always on-point at The Principal's Office.
1) The Principal's Office at Ivywild School
​
The Ivywild is a former elementary school that has been converted into a community gathering space.  In addition to the coffee shop at the Principal's Office, there is a bakery, a brewery, gardens, a market, and a craft store.  In my opinion, this is the best coffee in the Springs and also a great place for both conversing with friends or working with a laptop. Recommendation: soy maple latte
Picture
I like the mugs at Agia Sophia so much that I got one for Christmas and took it to Iceland!
2) Agia Sophia in Old Colorado City

I used to work just down the road from Agia Sophia so I frequented here for coffee and lunch. A sure way to get my attention is to label a bookshelf, "C.S. Lewis and Friends," which is exactly what Agia Sophia does!  If not getting something for takeaway, I enjoy their selection of books.  Recommendation: almond milk latte and a vegan wrap

3) Mountain Mama at Uintah

Mountain Mama isn't just a place for coffee, it has a cafe and an entire health foods store with it as well.  Recommendation: almond milk mocha with peanut butter syrup 

4) Jive's Coffee Lounge Old Colorado City and  Nevada

With two locations, one near my former workplace and the other near my former college, there was a time when I frequently visited both locations.  They both have a nice ambiance with interesting decorations.  Recommendation: soy Zebra Mocha

5) Black Bear Coffee

The interior of Black Bear epitomizes a woodsy, Colorado coffee shop. 

​6) Rico's Cafe at Poor Richard's 

Poor Richard's is a used book store, coffee shop, toy store, and restaurant all wrapped into one downtown location!  I've bought many books here and met numerous friends at the coffee shop.  

7) Montague's 

Though I meant to visit here for years, I only visited recently.  It was an adorable little place and worth the visit!


Check back soon for more of my adventures in Colorado!  Plus, I have some exciting adventures planned!
1 Comment

How to Work With, Rather than Against, Iceland's Weather

2/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Dedication: One of the cool parts of having readers from over 100 countries is the people that you connect with.  One of the first people I connected with in the blogosphere was a girl named Katie. She had been fighting an illness for a long time and said that reading about my travels gave her hope that she could see the world herself once she finally beat the disease.  For the last two years, we kept in touch regularly and I always mailed her little treats from whatever country I was in for her birthday to her New York home.  Unfortunately, she recently lost her battle.  I received word of her passing while on this road trip to the South Coast so this post is dedicated in memory of Katie.  Despite her circumstances, she was always cheerful and encouraging and she will always inspire me to live life to the fullest.

An Unexpected Road Trip on Iceland's South Coast

Picture
Unlike the barren landscapes in the winter, flowers are now in bloom and the grass is green.
When a friend and I set off from Reykjavik, we intended to travel to Vestmannaeyjar (or Westman Islands in English) via ferry and spend the day looking at the "Pompeii of the North" and searching for puffins to admire.  However, the weather was awful in the most Icelandic way possible: profuse wind and rain and covered in fog.  Instead, we decided to road trip along Iceland's South Coast, stopping in little towns along the way as we pleased.  I had been to the South Coast before, but only on a tour bus and this experience was much more authentic and lovely.
Picture
Sometimes Iceland doesn't even look like the rest of the planet; check out the otherworldly landscape!
This black sand beach is famous for its beautiful views and its equally dangerous waters.  We decided to visit different parts of the beach (instead of the one that all the tour buses stop at) and guess what we saw as soon as we turned on the road!? A puffin!  Despite the number of Lundinn (The Puffin) shops on Laugavegur, the Icelandic puffin is rather elusive and usually only spotted on Vestmannaeyjar, but despite our foiled attempt at puffin watching, we still saw one!
Picture
Iceland's iconic black sand beaches are only made more mysterious in the fog.
As we headed in the vague direction of the beach, we came across a winding, slightly terrifying hill.  There were some cars driving up successfully and other cars getting stuck in the mud (we befriended some Hungarians who met the unfortunate fate of getting their car stuck in the mud).  We weren't really sure where the road was taking us.  It ended up being an overlook to the beach or so we thought.  It was too foggy to see anything!
Picture
Waterfalls look good from all angles, even in the rain.
We mostly spent the day stopping at different natural wonders along the South Coast, most of which I had seen before, but which are beautiful no matter how many times you see them!
Picture
How is that for environmentally friendly!?
Where there is smoke, there is fire.  Unless you are in Iceland, then it is geothermal water.  On our drive back to Reykjavik for stopped for dinner at the Hveragerði geothermal kitchen, Kjöt & Kúnst.
Picture
Geothermal steam cooked our dinner.
Here, the chefs prepare most of the food by stepping outside and actually cooking it right in the hot springs!  It was very cool to see!
Picture
Just to put in perspective how rainy it was - this is how wet I got after ten minutes outside!
Iceland's weather may be unpredictable and cause plans to change, but there is always a way to work with the weather to make an excellent day trip.
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Crystal Chilcott

    Hi, I’m Crystal!  I love to travel and am currently a graduate student in Scotland. You’ll get all the best tips and insights from my experiences as a former ice-skating coach in Iceland and former study abroad student. Of the 27 countries I have visited, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis has been the strangest land yet.  Type 1 has not slowed down my travels and you'll learn how to take type 1 with you on the road! You can connect with me further on Instagram @CrystalChilcott, or send me ideas of where I should travel next via email: crystalmechilcott@gmail.comHappy Travels, Crystal

    Subscribe to Stranger in a Strange Land by Email
    What am I up to today?  Check out my Instagram feed below to find out!

    Categories

    All
    Austria
    Baby Brown Swiss Dairy Cow Incident
    Books
    California
    Cambly
    Canada
    Cats
    Chicago
    Coffee
    Colorado
    Croatia
    Czech Republic
    Denmark
    Diabetes
    Dumb Things I've Done In Foreign Countries
    Favourite Posts
    Figure Skating
    Florida
    France
    Germany
    Greece
    Hungary
    Iceland
    Ireland
    Italy
    London
    Macedonia
    My Travel Playlist
    Netherlands
    Northern Ireland
    Other Writings
    Sanibel Island
    Scotland
    Slovakia
    Spain
    Stranger In A Strange Land Series
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Travel Tips
    Turkey
    Type 1 Travels
    UK
    Wales

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact