I have a wee secret. Every day, for about five minutes, I travel to Italy. I don't even need to find a low fare guarantee through Orbitz or another online travel agency. Why bother when MY trip only costs $1.62 per day.

Okay, I admit it. My Italy trip is not to the actual country. It's all in my mind, because every day I go to Peet's Coffee House right across from the University of Texas at Austin. I buy an espresso to be drunk in the cafe. It's in one of those tiny espresso cups. And it costs me just $1.62, and from that I get an inexpensive trip to Italy.

Sure, I could pay twice that amount for one of their over-priced mugs of cappuccino. But quite honestly, their coffee isn't *that* good. It's the experience that I treasure.

I picture myself in Padova a decade ago. There's a small, market square on Wednesdays where I used to work with my friend Tiziano. He's a florist and sells in the markets. We would get up way too early in the morning, drive to the markets and setup shop. When we were all ready, it was still too early for most flower customers. So we walked to cafe and gelateria. We ordered an espresso or a cappuccio, maybe a brioche. We drank slowly, breathed the early morning air. Then we walked back to our stand and sold flowers until lunch time when we packed up and headed home.

For just $1.62, I return to that cafe every day. I smell the fresh morning Italian air, hear the Italians talking about calcio or discussing the latest news. I hear that television up in the corner off to my left. And I eye the gelato as I walk back to work where I find new ways to imagine away the drudgery of my day job. Today, I have my cat CD. It's not quite as sweet as those strong as the espresso memories. But for now, it'll do.