Q: Is there life after Italian coffee?

Today I was at Starbucks with my grandpa getting coffee (a shared hobby, I guess). I ordered a tall cappuccino and the guy asked me if I'd ever had real cappuccino before. I said, yes. He paused, then continued,
"Well, it's a little different from the kind where you push the cup against the machine thing."
"Like...BP coffee?" I asked. What did this guy take me for? A dazed teenager straggling in from the Hollister next door, popping in for a peppermint frappucinno? At which point I felt kind of deflated, after being in coffee withdrawal for quite some time now. I miss everything about drinking coffee in Italy--the smells of brewing espresso, the sound of customers chinking their cups and talking--sigh. Meanwhile the guy was eying me intensely, practically willing me to order something frilly via ESP.
"I think I'll just go with the cappuccino, thanks though."
"Hey, it's whatever you want." Smirk.

So, is this coffee habit really worth all that grief? Is there life after Italian coffee?

A: Yes. No...depends on how far you are willing to go to recreate the fantastic experience of Il cafe Italiana, authentic Italian coffee.

You have options. If you find yourself, as I was when I left au pair world, suddenly without access to espresso and its tasty offshoots, you have options. You can
1. Drag yourself to Starbucks at one of its two equally awkward locations in the Western KY area (a hospital or the mall--would you rather fight through throngs of hospital personnel, or actual dazed teenage girls straggling in from Claire's and Hollister? yikes)for your morning fix
2. Invest in a quality espresso machine and those tiny cups, as well as hard-to-find Lavazzo espresso packets, and learn to make it yourself
3. Learn to drink your regular coffee black, if you haven't already--you get more of a coffee taste and less of a finicky coffee-doctoring habit
4. Like # 2, but cheaper: buy a stove top percolator designed for espresso, and find bags of espresso at drugstores, and learn to make the coffee without burning it
5. Adopt a new habit to get your morning energy fix. Draw your own conclusions
6. Pine and sigh
7. Embrace McCafe (it's hit and miss)

(Note: If and when you find yourself in Rome looking for a cup of coffee, good news: almost any cafe or restaurant you choose will have great coffee. Choose one. Go inside, survey the layout (expect to pay the cashier at one end of the bar, and then receive your order at the other), and order. Espresso is cafe. Cappuccino, if you should crave it, is strictly a morning drink for Italians. Expect to be outed as a tourist if you order it any later. As a rule, the less swamped by tourists, the less expensive and more authentic the place will be. A place that is full of locals is usually synonymous with a great find. Get your coffee, take a whiff of that fresh espresso, and enjoy.)