I've been addicted to Starbucks for years. I worship Starbucks. Starbucks is the very example of everything I love about city living. I first discovered this international shrine to coffee in Canada (Vancouver, to be precise - the city of 1,000,000 Starbucks stores. (Well, nearly)). The first time I walked into a Starbucks I was bowled over by the extensive range of coffees. While this seems to be most people's complaint about the store ("I just want a *plain* coffee - what's a plain coffee?" "Well madam, that depends on how you like your coffee - would you like a latte or an americano or a cappuccino, or maybe a chocolatey mocha, or possibly just an espresso, and would you like flavoured syrup and/or whipped cream with that?"), I love experimenting with my coffee and this was like a dream come true. Admittedly, it took me half an hour or so to read through the entire menu, but it was a very happy half hour for me, filled with excited anticipation. During this holiday in Vancouver, I would drag my parents into every Starbucks we passed and try a different coffee. I was determined to work my way round every branch in the city and every coffee on the menu. Unfortunately we were only there for a week, so I never acheived my aim (but I'm going back next summer so who knows?!). I spent the whole week buzzing, talking like I was trying to break a world record, and grinning inanely. But I was happy, oh was I happy.

The thing is, UK Starbucks aren't generally as lovely as Canadian ones (American ones don't really compare either, in my experience!). For one, the prices are higher. This, however, does keep the rif-raf out! (Well, not the students, but never mind!). The atmosphere in UK Starbucks is very, well, BRITISH! People in UK Starbucks' always seem so miserable - we need to make our coffee-drinking public cheer up!! Starbucks branches are always nice relaxing places to sit about for hours on end, however. You're not encouraged to rush your coffee and bolt out the door. They're always places that encourage conversation and sitting about with friends. Anyway, on a slightly less abstract note, the coffee is the one thing that doesn't disappoint in Starbucks. No matter what you do with your coffee at home, it'll never taste like a nice Starbucks cup. It's a very different experience to a stumble-out-of-bed-with-a-hangover-and-make-a-coffee-to-make-self-human-again coffee. They've had a lot of time, training and research go into making their coffee delicious, whereas we've generally had a kettle and some instant. Oh, and their food ain't bad either - they do muffins and cakes, which are invariably yummy, and lots of low fat options. They also do sandwiches, which are pretty overpriced, but perfectly nice tasting - just not special enough to merit the prices!!

By the way, much as I love the selection of Starbucks' in Leeds, by far the best one I've visited in the UK is the one in York - they're lucky, those Yorkshire folk, aren't they?!