I went to a small coffee shop near the ferry berthing place in Mġarr the other day and ordered tea, asking how much it would cost. The woman there replied it cost 80c. When I saw the smallish cup she was handling, I asked for a large tea. She did it and said it cost €1.50. I was expecting to be charged €1 because that is how much I was charged in other outlets, though not places frequented by tourists. I am not a tourist. In any case, I had the tea and left.

I kept thinking about what I considered to be a high price to pay for a cup of tea, so I went back to enquire why such a big difference in price between a small and a large cup of tea, since only one tea bag is used. The lady did not seem to understand what I as trying to say, called me “stupid” and told me to go back to my own country (just to have tea?) if I were not happy here. When she finally realised what I was speaking about, she said more water was used in a large cup of tea, to which I quipped that, indeed, water is very expensive. Using flowery language, she told me to get lost.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens quite often in tourist areas, where high prices are unnecessarily charged. It certainly leaves one with a bad impression and is not great for the tourist industry.