Caffe Astra

Home. Home is very far; never did I truly process that I was leaving home. But the first thing that I knew when I move from place to place is to find a caffe.

Florence was a familiar place for me to get espresso without so many additives. But there is a lot of trial and error when discovering a spot that is not highly expensive that I would like to keep coming back to.

For example, just a “Dirty Chai” that is overloaded with milk and drop of chai at Shake Caffe is five euros; with an extra shot it is another euro. Another caffe even charged eight euros for a coffee that tasted burnt and chocolate that was super syrupy. I thought I was never going to find the caffe of my dreams in Florence, until I did.

Caffe Astra al Duomo, just a five minute walk from the Duomo heading towards Santa Maria Novella. Caffe Astra—meaning star—can really attribute there name to being one of the best caffe in Florence. This specific caffe/bar is always a place for me to reset without breaking the bank for a nice coffee and a variety of sweets.

The caffe has two levels with comfortable seats and lovely marble floors. The caffe has a sleek 1920’s look with a variety of decorations that compliment the simplicity of the space to look more sophisticated.

Caffe Astra shares a space with the Auditorium al Duomo. When the auditorium is hosting any events or meetings, it can get busy at the caffe as Italians, tourists, and students are all trying to order.

There is a wide selection of coffees, teas, panini, sweets, juices, wines, and cocktails. I usually have two orders that the staff remembers. The first order being a cappuccino, a sweet treat, and glass of juice. The second option I have recently gotten more frequently is a macchiato, a panino, a few tea biscuits, and a glass of orange juice. Both of these orders come out to ess than ten euros.

If you want to order any of these things in Italian:

“posso avere…” = “Can I get…” or “ io vorrei…” = “I would like…”
succo d'arancia = orange juice; biscotti da te = tea biscuits; un panino/panini = a sandwich/sandwiches; un cornetto = a croissant; un cappuccino/macchiato = a cappuccino/macchiato; un cannolo/cannoli = A cannoli/cannolis

I constantly come back to this place not just because it is comfortable and cheap, I comeback because the place is actually good. My favorite thing to order is obviously the orange juice: freshly squeezed; not overly sweet that feels like your going to get a cavity; not too tart that makes you cringe; and always refreshing.

One of my favorite sweet treats to order there is c

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