I think coffee is perhaps the most disgusting drink in the world, and like any good Brit abroad, I always travel with a packet of my preferred brand of teabags, so I was happy to miss out on the ‘coffee and pastry’ culture in Italy.  Dr HH, less so.  So one morning we decided to go for coffee (for him) and vegan pastries (for us) at this lovely place right next to the Duomo in Verona.

Caffe & Parole was a lovely place with outdoor and indoor seating, soy and almond milk for hot drinks, a few vegan salad and toast options, and three listed vegan croissants or cakes.  Delightful!

There were two kinds of croissants listed on the menu:  those filled with custard cream, and those filled with jam.  Apparently we should have got there earlier than 10:30am because they only had jam left.

Fortunately, they were still delicious:  the pastry was good and flaky, and the jam definitely packed a punch without being too tart.  They cost €2 each, which was pricey but not extortionate.

And it felt very civilised to sit beside a cathedral, eating vegan pastries and (watching someone else) drinking coffee.  The only way Dr HH could have been more Italian would be if he’d taken up smoking for the occasion – though I’m thankful that he did not!