Back when I first moved to Florence in the summer my flatmate told me about this gelateria which made the most incredible cones as well as organic, healthier ice cream so one night we ventured out of the house and she introduced me to the place that has since become my favourite. I know that there are many different gelaterie in Florence, but try this one and you will be hooked.
Edoardo was born through the owners' passion of gelato and real, healthier foods. This is why their ice cream and sorbets only have organic ingredients, naturally excluding all additives, colourings, conservatives, synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - yay! The eggs and milk that they use come from chickens and cows which are able to roam in open spaces and only eat natural foods. Organic products are more natural, healthier and generally attractive to everyone and they made both a business and personal choice in making their gelateria organic - it's the first one in the whole of Tuscany! Pretty impressive.

They named their shop after their son Edoardo and of course had to name one of their flavours after him: Gianduia secondo Edoardo which is one of my favourites and I always get it as at least one of my scoops. It's an ice cream flavour which is a mix of hazelnuts and a deliciously creamy chocolate, similar to nutella but less rich, which I actually prefer, surprise surprise. They haven't forgotten their grandparents either who gave them their old recipes and they named two of their flavours after them: Crema di Nonna Rosina made of fresh eggs, milk and sugar and Zabajone di Nonna Antonietta made of fresh eggs, milk, sugar and white raisin wine.



They also always have vegan flavours which is great for any plant-based foodies out there. I have seen chocolate, hazelnut, peanut, red wine sorbet and some other fruit flavours on offer, depending on the season as for their sorbets they only use fresh, seasonal fruit and sometimes they even use the peel where they can, for example with peaches, apricots and pears.



Now for the part that is the absolute best thing about Edoardo: their cones. They make them in-house, in front of you and the smell wafting out of the place is irresistible. I had to walk past it 2-4 times a day in order to get to work and it took a lot of will power not to go in every single time. They are so buttery and if you're lucky you will get a freshly made warm one. They come in two varities: your standard cone (pictured above) or una coppetta croccante (a cone shaped as a cup, if that makes sense) which you can see on the price list.

I have been here several times now and I have to say that my go-to is a small cone (for 3 euros) with a scoop of gianduia and a scoop of cinnamon. I absolutely love cinnamon and this flavour really hits the spot (as so many others of them!) It's in the Piazza del Duomo as well so the perfect location for sightseeing (map below). Definitely try this place if you are in Florence and get the cone. You won't regret it.

Alexandra x

Back in august Ryan Air was having a promotion as Italy had been winning lots of medals in the Olympics which meant that certain flights were only 8 euros. My flatmate and I were curious to see what kind of flights were available and we spontaneously booked a return flight to Trapani in Sicily for only 16 euros! Both Kasia and I had been to Sicily once before many years ago, but never to Trapani so it was the perfect opportunity to explore a little bit and when the end of November rolled around we packed our bags and made our way down to the sunny south.
We didn't really have many activities planned, especially as Trapani is quite a small town and we were in need of a relaxing holiday after months of studying and working. When we arrived non abbiamo capito una hacca (literally: we didn't understand a h, aka we didn't understand anything) of what the bus driver and his friend were saying because they were talking to each other in  the local dialect. When we were dropped off we checked into our hotel where they kindly upgraded us to a suite (score) and then we made our way to dinner as our tummies were starting to rumble.

We searched around for a while but everywhere was so expensive - we were expecting Sicily to be really cheap but it was around the same price, if not more expensive than Florence. We finally settled on somewhere called 210 Grammi (via Giardini) which was recommended to us by the lady in the hotel. The food was really good but again not as cheap as we were hoping for. Kasia had one of the local specialities which was hand made gnocchi with pesto alla Trapanese* and french fries (sounds weird but trust us) whereas I had a linguine dish with pistachio cream & salmon. Stuffed & satisfied we made our way back to the hotel to turn in early as we were exhausted and wanted to fuel ourselves up for the day ahead of us which started with a walk to the seafront.

* Pesto alla Trapanese means pesto from Trapani. When Trapani was one of the central ports in the Mediterranean, the people from Genoa often had Trapani as one of their ports of call. They brought with them the famous pesto alla Genovese (the classic pesto that we all know and simply call "pesto", made from a base of basil) which the Trapanese people then adapted using their local products: tomatoes, almonds and garlic.






It was literally so beautiful and the weather glorious - 21 degrees! At the end of November! As people who normally live in Poland and England we were so happy to soak up some sunshine as we were really lacking it, even in Florence. Trapani is still an important fishing point and the economy heavily depends on the sea, which is stunningly blue, even in winter. Fishing and the canning of food are the main local industries and other important exports are coral, salt, marble and Marsala wine, a fortified wine which is often used for cooking as well as sipping on similar to Sherry or Madeira.

Because of all of the fishing it is a staple in their diet and one of the typical dishes is their famous seafood cous cous with fish broth which we just had to try. After we had enjoyed the sunshine for a couple of hours we ventured into the city to try to find a restaurant for lunch which proved a little bit difficult as everything seemed to be closed in the afternoon for a couple of hours, although it was low season as well as a Sunday so we probably should have expected it. After a while we found Maree (via Serisso 15/17) which had an array of fresh fried fish as well as the famous cous cous di pesce (fish cous cous).

The famous cous cous which you then pour a fish broth over

We obviously got the cous cous as well as some polpettine which are fried fish balls. I'm not a massive fan of sea food but Kasia said that the cous cous was very tasty, and I really liked the polpettine.

Some of the other two things that we had to try in Sicily were of course cannoli siciliani and granita siciliana. A cannolo is a type of pastry which is a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough (yum) which are then filled with a sweet creamy ricotta and sugar filling which normally have some little chocolate chips in them. They are a staple in Sicilian cuisine but can be found all over Italy and are very popular in Italian-American cuisine too. Granita on the other hand is a dessert made from sugar, water and flavourings which is half-frozen. Again it's also originally from Sicily but is available all over Italy and in Florence Gelateria la Carabè has great authentic Sicilian granita.




The calorie bomb cannolo was really good although it's quite sweet so we shared that large one between the two of us, and then we ventured off to Colicchia (via delle Arti) to find some authentic granita. I got a limone (lemon) as it was such a warm day and Kasia went for pistacchio (pistachio) and nocciola (hazelnut). We both really liked all of them but in the hotter weather I love tangy tastes like lemon and the people who worked at Colicchia were honestly so so friendly.

Sicily actually had some of the most amazing desserts for all us who have a sweet tooth. Along with the cannoli and the granita we tasted some of the yummiest cookies and pastries in the hotel at breakfast among which our favourites were cassadedi. They are little pastries with sweetened ricotta inside of them (do you see a trend!?) which have been lightly fried and oh my are they good. They also had these amazing little pasticcini di mandorle (almond cookies), both of which you could also find at the place where we got our granita so definitely go if you are in Trapani, and then take a walk around the city to soak up the atmosphere, as well as burn off some calories!

Look at these little cutie pies

Dinner time soon came and we returned to one of the places that we had tried to go to on the first night. It is called Pizzeria di Calvino (via Nunzio Nasi) which has been open since 1946 and is apparently the best pizza in Trapani, serving them Trapanesi style. We didn't necessarily want to go there for the pizza though - we wanted to go there for the building's history. It is said that it was a brothel in 1943, when the Allies took power of Sicily during the Second World War and it is not hard to see how! The restaurant is divided into lots of different little rooms... if only the walls could speak.

Their authentic pizzas are very different to any other types in Italy and to be honest I'm not the biggest fan, I much prefer them Neapolitan style like at Gusta Pizza in Florence or in Naples itself but that's not to say that these weren't good, just different! Most people order larger pizzas to share and they come pre-cut into bite-size squares after there was a supposed "incident" involving knives. It's better to be safe than sorry I guess and it makes the pizzas much easier to eat! I went for one with peperoni (red peppers) and Kasia went for a pizza misto Calvino which has anchovies, tomatoes, parsely, oregano and mozzarella (pizza Trapanesi) on one side and anchovies, tomatoes, pecorino cheese, parsely, oregano and oil (pizza Rianata) on the other both of which are local flavours.

After our pizza we spotted a wine bar called Adragna Vini (Corso Vittorio Emanuele 52, the main street) where you could get glasses of wine straight from the barrels for around 2 a glass so obviously we had to stop for a couple of glasses on our way back where we met some Trapanese people. It was so nice to get to know some of the locals and talk to them about their city and the man who worked at the bar was lovely.

Sicily is famous for its Mafia so I just had to ask if it was the same in Trapani, which was met by some laughter followed by affirmations that there wasn't a big presence in Trapani in the sense that the shops didn't have to pay pizzo, a kind of tax paid to the mafia in order for them to be protected. Obviously the mafia exists there, like everywhere in Italy and actually all over the world, but it wasn't the same as in Naples.

Before Kasia and I got here we had this idea of Sicily as being a poor place where everything was super cheap, a little run down and where we could see all of the nonni (grandparents) playing cards together. As we got closer and closer and saw all of these expensive cars which we soon realised couldn't all be mafia cars, we understood that the reality was much different, although we did of course see the nonni.

The idea that I had was much more true of Naples which I went to a couple of weeks later and will be doing a blog post on soon - it's so different to the north of Italy!

Getting to Trapani is rather easy as there is an airport there which usually doesn't have flights which are too expensive. We flew from Pisa with the Ryan Air promotion, however travel within Italy by plane is often affordable as long as you book in advance so if you go, enjoy! And bring more money than you think you will need because it isn't extremely cheap.

Alexandra x

I was introduced to Ditta Artigianale the first week that I lived in Italy as it was so close to where I was studying and working, not to mention the fact that it is the coolest café/restaurant in Florence. There are three locations, one on the famous via dei Neri, one in Oltrarno and one close to la Galleria dell'Accademia. I have only been to the first two however they never fail to impress. Think of great coffee at reasonable prices, the best brunch in Florence as well as yummy food for lunch and dinner. It is not a traditionally Italian café or restaurant, however it perfectly incorporates tradition with modernity and globalisation.
The owner Francesco Sanapo has been a barista for the last 15 years and has won a number of awards including wining the Italian Barista Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2013 as well as coming 6th at the World Championships in Australia in 2013. After winning all of these prizes he decided to dedicate himself to the diffusion of high quality coffee culture in Italy. He now owns the three Ditta Artigianale coffee bars, all of which are in Florence's historical centre. He provides quality, single origin coffee and has a personal relationship with the manufacturers that they use, something which I think is very important.

Ditta Artigianale translates to "the artisan company" in English and the quality of their coffee definitely warrants its name. They have so many different types of coffee from all over the world: Ethiopia, Guatemala and Honduras just to name a few and they use super modern technologies in order to create the perfect coffee for their customers. The coffee is so good that the company has noticed less and less people adding sugar to their coffee - the rich flavours are enough on their own, just like at Colonna & Smalls in Bath, England.




Although they are famous for their coffee (and rightly so!) it is actually my favourite brunch spot in the whole of Florence, and I love my brunch. They have a massive range of things to choose from: pancakes, croissants, french toast, yogurt, bacon and scrambled eggs... they have something for everyone! Paired with their amazing coffee or one of their yummy fresh juices, it's the perfect place. The food isn't traditionally Italian, however you can see the roots coming through in some of their dishes, for example in this pumpkin stuffed pasta with truffle cream above which was simply divine.

In many places in Italy it would be frowned upon to sit at a table for an extended amount of time, working away on your laptop whilst only having bought a coffee. Coffee culture is very different in Italy - it is normally consumed standing up (in order not to pay more) and lasts a few seconds. What I love about Ditta Artigianale is that it has more of a cosy feel, a place that you can go to to meet friends and catch up over a few cappuccinos or plug in your computer and work or study whilst enjoying their free WiFi. They also have different varieties of plant based milk such as almond, coconut and soy which is great for those who are dairy-free.





The above pictures of the restaurant are all from the Oltrarno branch (I will leave a list of the locations and opening times below), which is much bigger and over two floors so there is plenty of space for you to work away, have a coffee, brunch, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, or cocktails after work! Coffee starts at €1.50 and the menu changes seasonally which means that you always get the freshest ingredients, but also means that you may not be able to order some of the food pictured above - worry not, everything is always yummy.

The other location that I have been to is the one in via dei Neri (pictured below) which is smaller, however equally, if not more, cosy. It is much closer to la Piazza della Signoria for example, so I generally go here just out of convenience. The staff are always lovely (in either location) and the service is quick. The owners have definitely been smart here in incorporating the great things from traditional Italian food with modern aspects which make the places so popular.


Ditta Artigianale's locations & opening times:

via dei Neri 32/R
Open daily from 8:00 - 22:00 (8:00 - 24:00 on Friday and 9:30 - 24:00 on Saturday)

via dello Sprone 3/5/R (Oltrarno)
Open daily from 8:00 - 24:00 (9:00 - 24:00 Friday & Saturday)

via Cavour 50/R (located in the new casa del cinema della Toscana)
Open daily from 8:00 - 24:00

If you're living in Florence or just visiting then definitely try the coffee in this place - it's so good and you won't have to pay if you want to sit down. Enjoy!

Alexandra x


*Please note that photos 2, 3, 4, 5, 11 and 12 are credited to Ditta Artigianale.*

Earlier last month I decided to buy my friend Julia tickets to Bologna and take her there on a day trip for her birthday as neither of us had ever been and wanted to explore more of Italy. Bologna is in Emilia-Romagna, a northern region of Italy which is the home of many Italian foods (balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, proscuitto & tortellini) and Italian cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini & Maserati, to name a few). It is also home to the oldest university in the world (established 1088!) and famous for its towers and porticoes (covered walkways with columns) so we hopped on an early morning train and made our way up there... stopping, of course, firstly at a café (called a bar in Italian) to get some colazione (breakfast) Italian style aka coffee & croissants.

Remember kids - cappuccinos only at breakfast time and definitely not with your lunch! After we had properly fuelled our bodies up for a full day of sight-seeing and exploring we headed to the Piazza Maggiore, one of Bologna's most famous, central squares, to discover that there was a chocolate festival going on! How lucky that we had booked our tickets to come this day? They had everything chocolate: hot chocolate, slabs of it, waffles, crêpes... it was hard to resist.

Our next stop was then La Piazzola di Bologna market in Piazza VIII Agosto which is open every Friday and Saturday. To be honest there was a lot of rubbish but we spotted a lot of Levis jeans and Barbour jackets - so you can definitely find some vintage gems if you keep your eyes peeled.

We then made our way to a nearby park, Il Parco Della Montagnola, Bologna's oldest park dating back to 1664! It was so beautiful and autumnal (we went mid-November) that we just had to take a bunch of pictures. It reminded me of this funny thing that I saw on instagram which said something like "English people: autumn, from the latin autumnus. American people: fall because the leaves fall." It cracks me up every time.

*Queue cheesy autumn photos*



After all of the walking around and photo taking we were starting to get a little hangry. I know that when you go to Bologna you are supposed to try tortellini, their speciality. However both of us were desperately craving pizza but after some unsuccessful searching we turned to google and found a charming restaurant which served pizza which seemed to have good reviews. It was good but not the best - not like Gusta Pizza in Florence or like the pizza that I tried in Naples (which was actually incredible) but it did satisfy our needs. We did, however indulge in a tiramisù afterwards which, in case you haven't heard of this delicacy, is an Italian dessert with coffee, cocoa, biscuits and mascarpone cream. It is delicious and the name literally means pick me up or cheer me up in Italian - tira mi su!

Some of Bologna's traditional filled pasta

Left: la Torre Garisenda. Right: la Torre degli Asinelli.

Saint Petronius of Bologna

One thing that I have definitely noticed whilst living in Italy is that I have not met one single person who likes Renzi - and this is obvious all around Italy with the street art/graffiti. Luckily for them he has now resigned after the results of the Italian constitutional referendum this month, but once again they have a Prime Minister that they have not voted for...

Our last stop in Bologna before heading back to Florence was il Teatro Anatomico (the Anatomical Theatre) which is in the Archiginnasio of Bologna, one of the city's most important buildings and once the main building of the University of Bologna. For three euros you can have a look into the room that they used for dissection classes of both humans and animals which was constructed in the 17th century out of spruce wood and finished in the 18th century.

It is decorated with twelve famous doctors including Hippocrates, a Greek physician born in 460 BC also known as the "father of modern medicine", all the way through to Gaspare Tagliacozzi, an Italian surgeon born in 1545 who was the pioneer of reconstructive surgery (including nose jobs!). In the middle of the room you have a marble dissection table and by the teacher's desk you have two spellati (skinned men).




Before the Archiginnasio was built, lessons took place in private or rented properties and sometimes in the piazze (the squares). With your ticket you can also take a peek into la Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio (the Archiginnasio Municipal Library) which has more than 500,000 texts and 12,000 manuscripts, making it the best equipped civic library in the country. I have to say that it was pretty cool to roam the halls of the old university - they are absolutely beautiful and definitely worth seeing for only 3 euros!

The theatre was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War, like many things were, but thankfully a lot of the original pieces were found amongst the building's rubble so it was able to be reconstructed in the original way. Although it was damaged you wouldn't be able to realise it when you visit the room and you can almost imagine the dissections which took place under candlelight.




That concludes our Bologna visit! Even though it was foggy and a little bit rainy we really enjoyed ourselves and thankfully Bologna has a whole system of porticoes which means that you can explore the city and not get wet (or you could just bring an umbrella).

Getting to Bologna from Florence is very easy and I would recommend taking the train, either Trenitalia or Italo. We used Trenitalia for both journeys and going there the regional train took 1-2 hours, whereas la Freccia (the fast train) took a little over half an hour. There are loads of stations in Bologna so make sure to choose "Bologna Centrale" when buying your tickets and enjoy your day! If you're staying in Bologna for longer you could visit some of the other places in Emilia-Romagna. Taste the traditional aceto balsamico (baslamic vinegar) from Modena or explore Parma, where the beautiful Italian parmigiano reggiano is from (parmesan cheese).

Alexandra x