Everybody got their reason
Everybody got their way
We’re just catching and releasing
What builds up throughout the day
It gets into your body
And it flows right through your blood
We can tell each other secrets
And remember how to loveMatt Simons. Catch & Release
“Un cappuccino per favore!”
A dark and unusually cold Monday morning in the small town of Vila-Seca in Catalonia, Spain. Finding a cafe that was open at this early hour had not been an easy task. Unlike Australia, where life starts early and cafes usually open by 6am, Spain definitely has a much later morning start. Tricky for notorious early risers like myself but here I was at the Forn Canvi Cafe, ready for my morning coffee. Previous experiences with ordering coffee in foreign countries had left me humbled (A weird long black with a splash of white) but I was confident this time. How difficult could it be to order a coffee in Spanish?
“Cappucchino?” the Spanish barista (is that what they call them in Spain?) .. the lady behind the counter repeated.
“Oui. Err. Si. Cappuccino”
So far so good. Vale!
“Cappuccino – con leche o nata?”
What? Milk or what?
“Si!”
“Un capuchino con nata?”
“Si!”
Perfecto!
“Dos cinquanta.”
I handed her a 50 Euro bill. It was either that or handing over my entire wallet with the coins I could not keep apart.
“Gracias!”
Too easy. My travel routine of having a coffee in a local coffee shop and doing my journaling seemed to go smoothly. My first day in Spain and I already felt like a local. Just another face among police officers and business men, students on their way to uni and the old lady reading the paper.
I was blending in great until…
“UN CAPPUCCINO CON NATA!!”
The waitress behind the coffee counter called out and heaved a gigantic cappuccino onto the bar – though calling it a cappuccino felt generous. It was a whipped cream creation, complete with a wafer cookie flagpole and a chocolate bean perched on top like a cherry on the world’s most caffeinated sundae. Somewhere beneath all that, I had to assume, was actual coffee.
It seemed like all conversation in the cafe stopped. A giant flood light was pointed at me and my extremely embarrassing coffee order. I felt as if all eyes were on me. This contraption was screaming: TOURIST! I should have ordered a shot like the guy standing next to me. After this amount of whipped cream I would have to anyway … no amount of Lacteeze would help me digest this dairy disaster.
“Thank you. Danke! Gracias!” I mumbled in dismay and lifted my coffee with the entire daily calorie allowance in one cup off the counter and over to my little table in the corner, avoiding the stares of the locals. At least I would not need lunch today. Nor dinner.
It is the beginning of another new year and once again I know for sure: THIS will be my year!
So far, so good – I am off to a perfect start, having spent another New Year’s with my children on an exciting adventure. After Australia and Canada, this year’s holidays were spent in cold and snowy Munich, Germany and yes! So far 2026 has been a great year! Schnitzels in Salzburg. Fireworks by the Isar River. Gänsehautmomente (goosebumps moments) im Bayern Muenchen Stadium. Christmas Markets and Bierhäuser. Winter wonderland walks in Schloss Nymphenburg and the Englische Garten. And enormous amounts of Pommes mit Mayo!
What made this New Year’s so special, though, wasn’t only the great sights and experiences we had together. It was also the little moments, the daily routines, the small rituals that I got to share with my children, my family, and my friends: getting fresh bread rolls in the morning to have for breakfast together; watching Love is Blind after long days of thousands of steps all over the city; my sons – grown men by now – still wrestling and snowball fighting their way through the park – and me pretending I don’t know them. Shoes everywhere, socks everywhere, card games on the train… Little rituals like me getting a coffee very early when everyone is still asleep, taking a moment to sit and reflect and write. And mostly getting my coffee order right.
New year’s resolutions usually mean force and willpower, and are all about the outcome (I will run the Sydney marathon! – which I did, though the term “run” was being used very loosely in this case). Rituals are gentler – watch the sunrise every morning, get a coffee and write a bit, spend New Year’s with my children. We were even lucky enough to be part of a traditional Spanish ritual with my friend in Catalonia: Three Kings Day. To see the street parade, the dressed up riders on horses in historic cobble-stoned streets, the hand-delivery of gifts for the children by the three kings – it was very special. Almost as special as the cappuccino with whipped cream.
This year I decided I wouldn’t make resolutions that would only make me feel stressed and frustrated. There are things I’d like to do – I want to run another marathon but actually train for it this time, want to drive a car on the wrong side of the road (Tassie watch out!) – but instead of worrying about the outcome, I want to focus on getting there and be okay with not making it. At least I’ll have tried. So instead of resolutions, I’m going with rituals.
And maybe also letting go of some rituals from the past that don’t work anymore, or have turned into something new.
Like writing about my life in Australia in this blog. I’ve been doing this for seven years now. Somewhere along the way, without really noticing, I stopped feeling ‘new’ in Australia. I just… am here. And I’m not sure when that happened, or what it means for this blog that was always about the journey and my experiences in Australia. Maybe it’s done its job? Maybe it’s time for something else? I don’t know yet.
The same with my kids. Things have changed – I am not the only one in charge anymore. We travel together now. Everyone gets a say in where we go, what we eat, which train to take. Everyone has a job. I may still watch them wrestle and throw snowballs at each other like idiots, and I pretend I don’t know them, but really… it’s just different now. Better, maybe. Something new altogether.
As for my Spanish coffee ritual – I did not give up on that one. For a whole week I kept showing up at Forn Canvi Cafe, trying to order a proper cappuccino without the whipped cream (as delicious as it was) until I finally did! … The fact that the waiter spoke a bit of English that day may have helped a little.
Servus! Salut!
Thoughts From the Upside Down 