I’ve always had a sweet tooth. But this year, that small craving has grown into something much bigger, a lens through which I’ve been noticing joy in unexpected, everyday moments.
It all started back in March while traveling. In Porto with a friend, we turned bakery-hopping into a game: stopping at nearly every bakery we passed and tasting pastéis de nata and other treats. When I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about them, so I decided to bake pastéis de nata from scratch. They weren’t perfect, but the process reminded me that small efforts like whisking custard or folding pastry can bring a lot of satisfaction, even if the result isn’t flawless.
A few weeks later, I was in Barcelona with a coworker, continuing the tradition of wandering into bakeries. By the end of the trip, it was clear that I wasn’t just enjoying pastries, I was savoring the simple, grounding pleasure of experiencing them fully, and it always felt even better with a good cup of coffee in hand.
Back in Rotterdam, this curiosity for small joys found its rhythm. At first, pastries and coffee were simply a reward for finishing a morning run - a small, deliberate indulgence that made early mornings feel lighter. Soon I began sharing them with a friend, turning it into a weekly ritual: picking up pastries and meeting to catch up over breakfast before work. Those quiet mornings, sipping coffee and savoring something sweet, became one of my favorite parts of the week.
During the summer, all the biking around Rotterdam made these small pleasures feel earned. My friends and I would detour to little cafés for coffee and pastries. And somewhere along the way, I also fell in love with solitary mornings: waking up early, stepping out while the city is still quiet, grabbing a fresh cup of coffee, and walking along the Maas. Sitting by the bridge or wandering along the water with that warm drink, I realized that these small, intentional moments with a coffee in hand and the city still asleep can feel profoundly joyful.
As for favorites: Ripsnorter and Cafecito for coffee; Le Petit Jean, my regular breakfast spot with a friend; Lila Bakery for its Eastern European cakes. My only frustration used to be that most bakeries in Rotterdam don’t open before 8 a.m. By then I’d already been up, ready for my treat with my nose pressed up against the windows waiting for the shutters to open. But discovering that the Albert Heijn next to my house has fresh pastéis de nata at 7 a.m., paired with a strong cup of coffee, felt like a small victory. A reminder that joy can be found in tiny, everyday discoveries.
Later in the year, my love for pastries and coffee followed me on trips abroad. In July, a short vacation in Copenhagen was spent with quiet mornings wandering the city with Danish pastries and café lattés, and in late September, a trip to Nice and Paris with a coworker continued the streak with croissants, éclairs, and warm cafés. Those mornings in Copenhagen, Nice, and Paris reinforced a lesson I had been learning all year: delight isn’t reserved for big moments or grand adventures. It can be found in small, intentional acts, pausing to savor a pastry, sipping coffee slowly while the city wakes, or noticing the little rituals that make ordinary days richer.
What began as a joke in Portugal has become a rhythm that follows me everywhere: runs that end with pastries, breakfasts with friends, bike rides that detour for coffee, and quiet walks with a warm cup in hand. Whether I’m in Rotterdam, Paris, or elsewhere, I’ve realized that joy often hides in the little things, the first sip of morning coffee, the flaky edge of a croissant, the stillness of a city before it wakes up.
Now that fall is here, I’m excited to keep the ritual alive: to wake up early, explore quiet streets, and let soft, dark mornings remind me that life’s sweetness often comes in small, intentional moments. Coffee and pastries, in their simplicity, have shown me that joy doesn’t always arrive in grand gestures; it often lives quietly, in cups, crumbs, and the deliberate act of slowing down.