Jeg drikke chai på Café Retro

I thought I'd take a break from writing a paper about the development of agriculture in Europe (the broadest topic ever assigned for a five-page paper ever, even if the pages are A4-sized) and report on my current surroundings.

I discovered this week that, in the 24 hours between my Sunday Baresso reading session and my Monday Baresso pit stop before my Human Rights in Africa class, prices on everything there had gone up.  The change only equates to about 20¢, but that's on top of a drink that already costs way more than it really should, particularly given its addictiveness.  Fortunately, this unfortunate revelation (which, according to a Dane in said Human Rights in Africa class, may be part of a food-pricing conspiracy among some of the big producers that's being investigated) coincided with the discovery that the lots-of-local-flavor, non-profit, charity-supporting Café Retro is not only a great study space, it also has equally amazing chai lattés-- and its biggest size is still cheaper than en lille chai-cino at Baresso.  I'm sold.

Café Retro itself is a really great space.  Dimly lit-- lots of hyggelit candles and hanging ceiling fixtures-- with squashy couches and chairs and barstools, plus tables of all sorts (including foosball), the downstairs has textured red wallpaper, funky retro clothing for sale, and bathrooms with English quotes from mostly-English-speaking luminaries.  The bar has coffee drinks, alcoholic beverages, and food (Jen and I shared nachos yesterday, and at some point I'm so going for the vegetable tapas trio) that, for Denmark at least, is reasonably priced.  The upstairs has an open center overlooking the ground floor, a meditation room, and more couches and things.  Apparently there's live music on weekends, too.  In any case, as far as I can tell, it's a mostly local hangout-- we actually met an American guy here yesterday who was astonished to hear people speaking in English--which makes it that much more awesome.  And, like most of the other awesome locales, it's within easy walking distance of home.

I feel that I've spent an oddly large amount of time and thought and love here on the chai, to the point that my roommates are now (lovingly, they assure me) referring to study time with tea at a coffee shop as "pulling an Alli."  Can I help it if I like the café culture and really like this one drink that everyone in Denmark seems to be able to make better than Starbucks?