What fun! I've clearly learned a little bit here. With two hours before departure I thought I had better grab a bite. The corner cafe/restaurant/newsstand was bustling and had a caffe, juice, and, croissant combo for 4.40.
It was fun watching the non-native part of the crowd try to figure out that you had to pay and then take your ticket to the counter for food and drink. At first you actually had to go over to the newsstand to pay, but suddenly they announced that you could now pay at the counter register. I was near the back of the first line so naturally I was near the front of the second.
The crowd was a mix of airport employees in dayglo uniforms and bewildered Americans. The Americans were, of course, trying to figure out where the lines were for pastries and drinks. Thanks to two weeks with you guys I knew to just squeeze up to the counters. I also knew not to attempt to walk away from the counter once I had my drinks. I could enjoy them at my (relative) leisure with the Italians no matter how much it inconvenienced the confused Americans behind me.
In typical Italian fashion while you paid ahead of time the servers never bothered to look at what was on you ticket. They just served up what you requested. Don't worry, it will work out at the end of the day!
The chocolate croissant was a disappointment--some sort of squeeze-in filling instead of real choc bits--but the espresso was real and the juice fresh-squeezed. All in all not bad for an airport. All the Americans kept ordering caffe Americano. Poor things.
Oh, I also managed my transaction in some basic Italian instead of English. Except for "juice". I had no idea on that one.
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