Split, Croatia
My bill arrives after dinner, and included on it are two coffees I did not order. I'm not sure if it's an honest mistake or not, but I'm suspicious.
I flash back to another trip, when I sat at an outdoor cafe in Lagos, Portugal, and watched as neary every person in the restaurant was finding a few "extras" on their bill. The waiters were all very cordial, and removed the charges right away.
Then there was the time I was working in Venice, Italy, and at the end of a big lunch of salad, pasta, wine, coffee, and tiramisu, my bill arrived, charging me for everything I had eaten, plus four gargantuan six-scoop ice creams with a price tag of roughly six US dollars each.
"Excuse me," I said to the waiter. "I hate to be a bother, but could you take a look at my bill? I did not order 24 scoops of ice cream to wash down my tiramisu."
"Are you sure?" the waiter replied.
"We would both know if I ate 24 scoops of ice cream," I said. "It wouldn't be pretty. I'm lactose intolerant."
The waiter shrugged and fixed my bill.
So the two coffees here in Split -- have they been added intentionally? I'm not sure, but the waiter apologizes and tells me he'll correct the bill.
"You'll probably want to," I tell him, handing him some cash for my meal. "Your tip's included here. It's your money."
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