This is the start of a new life

I went to Amsterdam today, KCC the coffee culture center. I wanted to buy an espresso machine. I've been using the Bialetti for quite some time now. I was pretty satisfied with it, but I noticed that I started putting sugar into my espressi while I did not do that with espressi I bought in the bars in Italy. I found the reason for that in the bottom of my bialetti... As it's aluminium, it started to react, get darker. It added a sour taste to my coffee. At one point earlier this week I decided something had to be done.. so here I was...

The owner of the shop is an older guy who has much experience with espresso machines and also does maintenance for them. I expected a good chat about the machinery and their technique. I got exactly that. He took his time to explain me about the advantages and disadvantages of the different machines he has in his store. We arrived at the, in many peoples opinion, best machine for home use. The Rancilio Silvia. This machine is praised for it's ease of use and good quality. I've read a lot about it at CoffeeGeek.com.
I made my decision pretty quick as I knew this machine from the reviews already and know that it's probably the best out there for home use. After helping out some quick customers the owner of the shop took some time to show me and another customer the machine and explain how to handle it. He showed us how to set it up for first use, told us about a dozen time to decalcify it every 3 months, showed us how to make coffee with it and explained the use of the steam functionality.
After adding some stuff like a tamper, coffee, decalcify powder and a box to get the coffee out of the filter he told me that he would send me an e-mail after a little less than 2 years to get it in for free service just before the guarantee would end.

After a little more than an hour of travelling home I unpacked the machine:

Now that's beauty ;o)

After setting it up as told I made my first espresso. As the cup was just little bit too small, I missed the first couple of drops and filled it up too much.. However.. it was very nice indeed! I quickly made a new one. I remembered the complaints about not getting crema with the Silvia, but have a look yourself:

Now that is what I call beauty!
It tasted like espresso should taste like.. Closing your eyes I got a vision of standing in a bar somewhere in Lucca. The owner of the shop told me this first cup would be the start of a new life.. and I think he's right.
I know for sure now that I will carry this machine with me for the coming decades...