Wednesday 1 January 2014

The best thing about visitors

We love having visitors in Milan. 
They provide us with the perfect audience to share some of our discoveries, like our local pizzeria - San Marco's. It's almost compulsory to eat there at some point when we have visitors.
Our most recent visitors - Beth, David, Olivia and Georgia
Milan isn't one of the most beautiful cities in Italy so it's always a delight to take visitors to the Duomo.  It's luminous grandeur never fails to surprise.
Known for its bitterly cold, foggy days, we've been surprised by the beautiful weather that seems to greet our visitors in Milan.  Hope I haven't jinxed our run of sunshine. So far, we haven't tired of wandering through the grounds of Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione.
Perhaps the best thing about having visitors is that we are always looking at this city through new eyes. With friends and family we explore new places, like a trip to La Scala to see the new ballet. Memorable for the dancing, the incredible theatre and so much more fun when shared.
Not that I need an excuse to try a new gelateria but with visitors there's an opportunity to share one of my favourite gelateri, or to try somewhere new.  CioccolatItaliani is one of the most popular gelato chains in Milan.  It serves delicious gelato with small cones of melted dark or white chocolate.  After pouring the warm chocolate over your icecream you can crunch your way through the little chocolatey dripping cone. Georgia and Olivia couldn't stop at melted chocolate, they added nutella to their stracciatella gelato.  Beth and I were a little more restrained, sharing a bowl, a big bowl, of chocolate and fior di panna. 
CioccolatItaliani was such a hit that we returned two days in a row.  I'd only do that with visitors!

CioccolatItaliani 
We went to the cafe-style CioccolatItaliani on via de Amicis 25.

Taste test summary
The serves are generous. One between two was plenty, even for the keenest teenage gelato consumers. Although I enjoyed the crackle of the solidified 'ice-magic' chocolate topping when the gelato comes in a bowl, I found that when served in a cone, it becomes messy and far too rich. I would always choose a cup or better still, eat in the cafe and enjoy sharing a big bowl.  The combination of flavours was perfect, especially when the fior di panna was served on top of the chocolate, which was a little stronger in taste.

Gelati rating *** 1/2 
(marks deducted as the single cones are the most expensive that I've bought in Milan.)

Buon anno e auguri per 2014!  

1 comment:

  1. I still remember how divine the pizzas are at San Marco's. Sounds like you fitted a lot into three days! Ciao. Ciao.

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