[bitwize]

Indeed. I remember the times I needed to interact with the Massachusetts state government. State House notwithstanding, many of the Boston government district's buildings are brutalist in style, and when you go there in January or February, the winter wind really whips through the courtyard, making you legitimately feel like you're on Vogsphere instead of in Boston. Seeing some of these maps gave me flashbacks to that time.

A lone coffeeshop, barely more than a kiosk, called Cuppacoffee, is in the area. It's run by an affable fellow from Australia, a country with an excellent coffee culture, and also sells Australian style meat pies. An oasis of warmth.

[distances]

Australia indeed has great coffee culture, I had no idea before visiting. On my holiday there I never had bad or mediocre coffee, which was a bit wild. Not once.

You can get great coffee in Europe of course, but you'll specifically have to go to a cafe that knows what they're doing, or the likelihood of a mediocre brew is high. Australians, I bet most of you don't realize how good you have it there.

Sorry for the off topic.

[bitwize]

When I was in Queensland I was a bit flabbergasted that every roadside sandwich shoppe, no matter how small or God-forsaken, served excellent coffee. Thankfully the world is healing and American coffee culture is improving. Starbucks has as much difficulty getting a toehold in New Orleans as it did in Brisbane and for the same reasons: there are so many places you can get better coffee, that no one wants to go to Starbucks.