English gelato... why not?

The 99 is an ice cream cone, made with soft ice cream with a Cadbury Flake bar inserted in it and it's very popular during the British summer (!) - it's a vanilla-flavoured ice cream and you can get chocolate or strawberry syrup on it.

The ice cream van goes around and plays its little song so that the kids come out and get some ice creams... I have heard the ice cream van until 10 pm in some areas, but that is a different story... 

This is me having a cheeky little 99 in Victoria Park, London - it was nice! And apparently, it has got a little bit of Italian history attached to it... 

Ask.com says that: 

A 99 ice cream was so called to appeal to the Expat Italians, who dominated the UK when the ice-cream was created. According to them, anything special or elite was named 99 after the monarch king of Italy's guard which comprised of 99 bodyguards. The ice cream is usually made of ice-cream served in a cone with a flake 99.

Wikipedia, instead:

Another possibility, is that it was named by Italian ice-cream sellers (many from mountainous areas in the Veneto, Trentino, Bellunese, and Friuli) in honour of the final wave of conscripts from the First World War, born in 1899 and referred to as "i Ragazzi del 99" - the Boys of '99. They were held in such high esteem that some streets in Italy were named in honour of them. The chocolate flake may have reminded them of the Alpine Regiment's hat, with a long dark feather cocked at an angle.

Day out in Venice, "the Queen of the Adriatic"

On a flying visit from the UK to Bologna, we took a day out to go to Venezia, Venice, Venedig... The city built on 118 different little islands, famous for the canals and the gondolas.

The view from the bridge just outside the station of S. Lucia

I had been there before and I clearly remember the feeling of walking out from the station, right onto the canals and to think that this city was something special. We only had a few hours to explore, we went to the most famous Piazza San Marco and had a look at the Palazzo Ducale.

We walked around until we reached the "Ponte dei Sospiri" - the Italian for Bridge of Sighs. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

Il Ponte dei Sospiri

On the Ponte di Rialto

Tourists in the 'Pool

Two of my best friends came all the way from Bologna this week end, including a flight in the early morning which means they are leaving Liverpool tonight at 2:30 am and that I appreciate... I had to do my best to make them enjoy their visit!

So we went for a typical roast dinner in the pub on Sunday - with roast beef, broccoli, spuds, Yorkshire pudding and gravy (the gravy and the broccoli did not go down well!) as well as a walk around the city.

Liverpool is one of the few city that has got two Cathedrals: the Metropolitan one, Catholic and the Anglican one. 

The Anglican is 189 mt long and it's the longest cathedral in the world; in terms of overall volume, Liverpool Cathedral ranks as the fifth-largest cathedral in the world. Believe me, it's massive - inside and out!

Here we are in front of the Catholic Cathedral, built in the 60's as a result of the the Catholic population of Liverpool increasing under the Irish influence. Ultra modern church that can accommodate more than 2,300 people - very different from all the churches we are used to in Italy so well worth a visit.

Photos by Michele - grazie! :D

When mother came to visit

Ryanair has kindly opened a new route: Manchester to Bologna! This has made me really happy and made it a lot easier for people to come see me in the UK...

First one to take this opportunity was MAMMA: she jumped on the plane, ready to cook and clean (thanks!) for a whole week for me and just to say "thanks" I bought ourselves some tickets to go and see "Let It Be - The musical"

They had people up and dancing in the whole theatre and it was a really good gig - they featured over 40 Beatles songs and, being in  Liverpool, it was no surprise everyone was up and singing! Thumbs up for the "Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club band" bit when they wore the full clothes the Beatles had! 

Me and the mother posing in front of the poster in the Empire Theatre

Spring at Albert Dock

Liverpool is a really nice city to live in - and when the weather is nice, it's even better.

You can go for walk down at the Albert Dock (which I keep calling "Pier" after the one in Ireland but anyway...) - Wikipedia says:

Today the Albert Dock is a major tourist attraction in the city and the most visited multi-use attraction in the UK, outside of London. It is a vital component of Liverpool's UNESCO designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City and the docking complex and warehouses also comprise the largest single collection of Grade I listed buildings anywhere in the UK.

... and we believe it :)

The sunset was stunning last night and I can really "smell" the spring coming...
Hope it's a good 'un!

The central part of the docks, where ships used to load and unload

The view from the Mersey onto the Wirral peninsula, just on the side side from Liverpool

I am Robin Hood

Was meeting with a friend halfway through the UK:
me: Liverpool - she: London - us: Nottingham, for the week end.


We were busying ourselves with: 

visiting the castle, having a drink in the oldest pub in England (the "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn" established in 1189AD), having a nice Thai dinner (not so old), having another drink in a studentish pub , visiting the Old Gaol (really nice interactive museum, were the guides tell you stories and you are pretending to be a convict! if only they really did send me off to Australiaaaaa), having a drink in a magnificent church that has been turned into a bar!

An auld door at the Castle

The Church-bar 

Happy New Year (of the horse)!

Yes, I know... December is long gone but the Chinese come round in their own time.

Went down to celebrate Chinese New Year in Liverpool - which is allegedly the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Saw the dragon, smelled the fireworks (I am really short), ate some siu mei (well, I think...) and browsed around the Asian supermarkets in city centre.  

Now I fancy some seaweed pringles. 

the Chinese arch in Liverpool 

and the dragon!