2022-07-14
If you've read some of my previous posts you probably know that I drink a lot of tea. My daily intake is measured in pots (of about 1.2 litres each) rather than cups. Thus when I had to spend almost a full day in town a couple of days ago I was faced with a conundrum. A single cup of tea at a café is around €3 (yes, I hop between using euros and USD when describing prices; just be happy that you don't have to learn quick conversions from SEK). Can you imagine what my tea consumption for a day would cost at that price?
Being the cheapskate I am there's always a better (i.e. cheaper) way.
First of all I filled my thermos cup before leaving home. It's 0.35 litres and I somewhat optimistically thought that this would be enough, even though I should know better. Luckily I always have a few tea bags in my backpack for emergencies. Everyone does, right? 😅️
"But Björn," you say, "Where does one get hot water in a city?"
Everywhere, my friend. Everywhere.
If you're really unscrupulous you can take your thermos cup to any café and politely ask them to fill it. Less cheeky is to ask the same of a restaurant. Restaurants usually have a table with coffee pots, hot water, and tea bags somewhere and let you fill it yourself. This doesn't affect them in any way, because their business is food.
The best place to look in this city is actually the library. Unexpected? Maybe. There's a whole section in the library for kids and their parents, and they have a room where you can heat baby food and sit by a table to eat something you've brought yourself. That room includes a microwave and, more importantly, a kettle.
As a bonus they also have wifi and study seats with electric outlets and good lights. Gotta love public service.
-- CC0 Björn Wärmedal