Hi there!
In the next lines, may be a few or maybe not, I’m gonna tell you how Google Maps became my pal for coffee and desserts.
I am from a 52 000 km² and 5 million people country: Costa Rica, and on October 2018, my life had a twist: I moved to Canada, exactly London, Ontario; but just for 6 months, now I’m back home.
I knew that one of my biggest challenges of living in Canada would be moving around the city, because my natural GPS has never worked, and I’ve always had my brothers looking after me, but this time I had to do everything by myself. Now that the experience is over I can tell that I MADE IT and my skills of moving around improved, definitely, but I could make it, because Google Maps was by my side.
On my first days there, when I was going somewhere, I opened Google Maps and put my headphones on, so that would look like as if I was listening to music, when in fact I was just waiting for Google Maps to tell me the stop I should get off the bus (yes, I know, that sounds kinda silly).
Also, as I was in a new place I like to take pictures of almost everything, because I don’t know if I am ever gonna go back to that place (sometimes my family gets fed up with me about that).
As the result of the mix between Google Maps and the plenty pictures of many places, I became a Local Guide. It was the perfect match for me, because by becoming a Local Guide, I will share my pictures with people all over the world, and also it was a way to give back or give thanks to Maps for all the help they were giving me and I would help newer people (newer than me) in London, by giving them a little piece of advice from what I’ve learned during my days there.
But during my 6 months living there, I did some traveling, so I posted pictures and did reviews of those places too, but those places were more recommendations of the touristic places, for example the CN Tower in Toronto or Notre-Dame in Montreal.
As I was on my own, I was always looking for places where I could enjoy time for myself, for example, coffee shops, because I was not going to go to places for big groups of people if it was only me, most of the time.
One of the funniest things was that before living in Canada I didn’t like to drink coffee, but while living there I started to like it; and people got surprised about that because I am from a country which one of the most popular agricultural products is coffee. So I started to look for places where I could have a nice coffee, sit down and enjoy it with no rush, and I have to admit it, I am not a huge fan of Tim Hortons, because I feel that everything is served so quickly that you can’t enjoy it properly, and also I prefer coffee on a mug, not a paper cup.
And that was the reason I found Commonwealth. Since the first time I went there, I fell in love with the place, everything was so quiet: people reading or working, but they weren’t in a rush, so I knew I had found my spot. I, practically, visited the shop once a week. There I always tried a different drink, from americanos to strawberry lemonades, going through Vietnamese coffee (which is kind of a sugar bomb, because it was condensed milk, but it doesn’t matter, go ahead and try it!), and they have so yummy bagels (my favourite the Cheddar jalapeño), also cookies and scones.
During February 2019, they opened their brother company: BoxCar and the only thing they sell is donuts, but not common ones, they have different flavors everyday and they are so good that usually they are sold out around 2pm.
Other thing I have to admit is that I have sweet tooth, so I like to try desserts, mostly ice cream and cheesecakes. On the cheesecake department, Angelo’s is probably the best place in London for that, you can find so many different kind, from the classic one to one made with pumpkin.
For ice creams, you can go and have one at Laura Second in Masonville Place, or Baskin Robbins near Hyde Park, or Roli Poli in downtown. But unfortunately, I didn’t have time to visit Haven’s Creamery, I follow it on Instagram, and I should go sometime back to London and try that ice cream.
But sometimes, I also looked for “healthier” places, and that how I find Origins Co, I only visited once, but the smoothie bowl I tried was pretty good. Yes, I know, you might think the only thing I did while living there was eating, and practically it is true, because of one main reason: food doesn’t go to your stomach, food goes directly to your heart and soul.
And that is why I became friends with Maps: it always show me good places to go for coffee or dessert, so it was for me when I needed it the most, so I want to there for it whenever it needs me.
Now, that I am back in Costa Rica, I want to continue showing good places to go for a coffee or a dessert, alone or with company, keep sharing my pictures and may be, the little I know would help somebody.
With love from a deeply grateful friend,
Florocha21