ICE CREAM OF EUROPE

I realise that this post is a little late in regards to any budding Euro-travellers- but; I'm in mourning. I'm mourning summertime. Look out your window, is it raining? Yes. Is it cold? Yup. And although I haven't had as exciting summer as last year, I am missing the feeling of sun on my skin, whilst reading a good book and enjoying some ice cream. Of course, this made me a little nostalgic of my European travels, where we often fed on a steady diet of ice cream and pizza (when in Rome etc etc). Therefore this post is dedicated to nostalgia, and of course, the best ice cream i've ever tasted.

Belgious Avinyo in Barcelona

Funnily enough, despite being in the old-town of Barcelona's gothic quarter, this parlour was a Belgian bussiness and was far from what you'd imagine to find in the medevial lanes of Barca. Bright orange inside with plastic twizzly seats, this place was all about the 'exotic and unusual'. Our server had perfect English and allowed us to try as many flavours as we wanted; ranging from black olive to balsamic raspberry and even (a surprisingly nice) curry flavour. They even had beer flavoured ice cream! I finally settled on a much more traditional dulce de leche, whilst some of my friends were more adventurous with chocolate and goats cheese and lime and rosemary. Other interesting/questionable flavours include: grilled prawns, cannabis and mustard. And if you're a bit of a wuss- there are plenty of lovely/normalish ice creams available as well as the bonkers ones!

Della Palma in Rome

Della Palma is everything an Italian gelateria should be; loud, busy and absolutely full of gorgeous, mouth-watering ice creams. Boasting over 150 flavours, this place was always busy when we visited, with tourists and locals alike jostling for a scoop. I tried quite a few flavours whilst staying in Rome as this place became a regular visit on scorching summer days. Favourites included: pear and marscapone, dark chocolate and raspberry and traditional crunchy peanut butter.

 

Grom in Siena 

This place was a slightly more traditional gelateria, which relied on good ingridients and traditional Italian flavours. There aren't as many places to find ice cream in Siena and although this place is just of the main plaza, which can get a little touristy, we found it a very charming pit-stop for an afternoon scoop. Special flavours include Italian zabaione, chesnut and Sicilian cassata.

P.S- try the aloholic ice-cream coffees in the Murinsel cafe on the Mur River! The cafe literally sits, rather precariously in the middle of the river. The architecture of the place is an amazing formation of glass and metal and you can get some stunning views both inside the cafe and on the bridges.