After a very impressive circus performance in Voronezh, which our three-year-old daughter enjoyed tremendously, the entire family, including the grandparents, went to a children’s cafe called “Lakomka” (which means something like “sweet tooth” in Russian) located just across the street from the circus. There, we experienced a bit of a culture shock – there was no ice cream on the menu, but there was a bar with a large selection of alcohol.
To be fair, we enjoyed the pastries, coffee and juice, but the mismatch of the child-friendly branding and the “grown-up” drink menu was a little funny. It seemed like a perfect set-up for a Russian anecdote – “A man walks into a bar…” type of a joke.
Perhaps, years of living in North America shaped my expectations of what “child-friendly” means a bit too heavily, but every time we travel, I generally find it refreshing that in Europe (e.g. in Ireland or France) parents can bring their kids to pubs and restaurants and enjoy a pint of beer or a glass of wine, while children are picking at the kid’s plates (or even sleeping in their strollers).
