Food diary: Milan

After a train ride from Venice we arrive in Milan. Got a nice hotel which I would definitely come back again to. And Milan was HOT! Omg, the heat is overwhelming! Literally drop our bags and freshen up, and went straight to San Siro Stadium, home of AC Milan and Inter Milan. Milan is not for the history crazy and culture vulture. Its an industrial city with a flair for fashion, and thats about it. If your gold is to shop then Milan would be lovely, but I was into history and culture so it wasn't up my alley.

Day 3: Eating in posh place and found the best gelato in Italy so far.

After walking around the Il Duomo, La Scala and the surrounding, had an early dinner in the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle. Tried the fried seafood and the rissoto. I'm not crazy about the porcini rissoto. I've tasted better in my lifetime and it was in Kota Kinabalu, back home in Malaysia. But the place was nice and everyone is happy to finally sit under the shades. Afterwards, walky-walky again. Came across Grom, a gourmet gelato shop! Quite near Duomo, but walk up a bit (you can google it). I bought nocciola again and dark chocolate. OMG! I have just found a piece of heaven on earth in the form of dark chocolate gelato! This shop alone is worth the trip to Milan for. Its organic and it uses fair trade product. Then a friend bought pistachio. Definitely the best of all pistachio gelato I've tried in all of gelato session I had in Italy! So after the tiring walk, head back to hotel and get ready for Florence the next day.

Food diary: Venice

Oh Venice, the canals and gondolas! So this is my second time to Venice. This time its during summer. Loved every second of it except for the hot sun. 4 years in Dublin had made me a Yeti that prefers cold weather! But the sun is glorious and refreshing after the bad rainy Dublin forecast. So what do I eat in Venice? I'm trying to remember.

Day 1: Searching for gelato and authentic pasta.

By the Piazza San Marco, the small gelateria nearby is not bad, but if you're looking for pistachio flavour skip on it. So off we go looking for the real one, but failed. Anyway I settle for nocciola (hazelnut) and caffe (coffee). After walking around and looking into shops, we stop for dinner at a restaurant by the canal near the Rialto bridge. Passed by the first restaurant whereby I snubbed a cute waiter trying to get us to eat there. Why? Because I was ogling him and he noticed! Anyway walked up to the third one and sat there. I had Spaghetti Frutti de Mare (seafood spaghetti). It was lovely but not 10 out of 10. I'd give it 6/10. A friend had a lobster pasta, that I rate 8/10, and another had Fetuccini Funghi (mushroom fetuccini) I rated 7/10.

Day 2: Still looking for the ultimate gelato.

Had a late lunch this time, actually it was breakfast and lunch at the same time at 3pm. Had a nice salad which I forgot the name of and Spaghetti Carbonara. It was so creamy that I couldn't finished it. I never not finish my food! By the by, it was delicious. On our way back to Piazzale Roma, stumble across a busy gelato shop behind a church. Seems that all the locals stop by so it must be famous. So we decided to try! Finally, a genuine pistachio gelato! Yummy! Tips to all, if the colour is bright green, it is not the real deal! For a real pistachio....light brown with tinge of green is the way to go. After the delicious ice cream, its time to pack up for Milan! Oh, bought pizzas takeaways for dinner in the hostel. Love the ones with anchovies, tomatoes, and mushroom.