Oibò

Oibò is the wonderful café about a minute walk from our house, and right across the street from our school. Our first experience with Oibò was the first week we arrived in Florence. This is the place I had my first ever Italian cappuccino, and where I still go multiple times a week to get my cappuccino. This café has been a life saver, especially on those early mornings where you probably should not have been out late the night before. Although it is Italy, so I guess that is acceptable.

Anyways, this café is a gem. The staff now recognizes us when we walk in. The staff is slowly but surely getting to know our orders too. My standard order is a cappuccino with a pastry that has cream in it. I haven’t quite figured out their names yet, but I can tell you what they look like. There are three gentlemen who normally work the mornings. There is a man who looks to be about in his thirties, longer hair, and who always greats us with Ciao Bella. The second man has darker skin, always jokes with us, and normally creates some sort of design on our coffee. He has created hearts, written I love you, I miss you, and the latest one was will you marry me? The third gentleman has dark hair and glasses. All of the staff here are very welcoming. I hope to get to know them even more as the semester goes on. They are also so kind as to help us with our Italian. All three of them also give us a wonderful student discount, as they normally see us walk in with our backpacks or books.

I also enjoy this café because of the atmosphere. The seating allows you to either sit with a friend, read the newspaper, or people watch from the large windows at the front. They have free Wi-Fi too, which allows me to do school work in the early mornings while I drink my cappuccino. All in all it is a great place to just relax before heading off to classes.

Oibò is just not a bar where we get our morning coffee, but a bar in the evening. Recently, a few of us attended our first apertivo here. It was nonetheless wonderful. If you don’t know what an apertivo is, an apertivo is an Italian tradition. Apertivos happen at bars. For most Americans it is like a cheap dinner. You buy a drink, which range anywhere from eight to ten euros, and then have a free buffet style meal. At this apertivo there was all types of different food. There was pasta, rice and seafood, sandwiches, tomatoes and mozzarella, olives, different types of dips, bread, potatoes, and much more. It is a great time to just relax, enjoy a drink, and enjoy a meal. Our first experience with an apertivo was a success.

Oibò is one of my favorite coffee shops in Florence. You can’t miss it. It is right across from Santa Croce. The staff, coffee, and the food are all wonderful. It will always have a special place in my heart. Plus, it beats an American coffee or Starbucks any day.

My routine cappuccino.

The plate we recieved from our barista.

My pina colda at the apertivo.