The “Milkshake Kiosk” in Florence

written by Ilaria Gelichi

For more than 30 years, near Lungarni and Piazza Beccaria, has existed a place where the young (and not so young) love to stop in hot summer evenings. It is called the “milkshake kiosk” and although being situated in a busy avenue, it’s not well-known, especially by tourists.

If you are going for a walk in the evening in San Niccolò neighbourhood and want a fresh snack after dinner, just cross the river Arno on San Niccolò bridge and head to Viale Amendola. After a few steps you will see on the right a small kiosk, normally well lit, with two very nice attendants – a man and a woman – ready to take your order. The specialty is obviously the milkshake: you can choose between a lot of fruit flavours, and of course chocolate. If you do not like milkshakes, you can ask a simple fruit smoothie. The milkshake is the classic one, made with milk and ice crushed at the moment, absolutely yummy and soft. It is also possible order something to eat if you are hungry (sandwichs, hamburgers…); prices are fair.

Where to find it: Viale Amendola (near Lungarno del Tempio), Florence

Times: from 6pm to 2am (more or less)

A guide to (not so) secret bakeries in Florence

written by Ilaria Gelichi

If you are visiting Florence make sure you do not miss going to one of the so called “secret bakeries”. I am not talking about common bakeries, which are open during the day. Secret bakeries are usually open in the night, between 1 am and 5 am. They are wholesale producers of pastries, croissants and other delights, which are sold to Florentine restaurants and cafés. For this reason, they are quite hidden and you will need precise directions from locals to find them. A pastry costs between 0.80 and 1.50 euro. The purpose of this article is to guide you to a sweet delicious snack before going to bed, maybe after an evening spent out with friends.

You will recognize a secret bakery by the line out of the door, and you will understand that they are not so secret actually; anyway they still keep the name. One of the most famous is Pasticceria Vinci & Bongini, located in Via del Canto Rivolto 2, near Via De’ Benci – in the heart of the historic centre. Once you find it, all you have to do is standing in line, waiting for your turn. But please, be quiet while you wait, as says the sign out of the door: the owners do not appreciate loud customers, since there are apartments with people sleeping just next to the bakery. If you cannot decide what to choose when your turn comes, just ask to the owners and they will choose for you – but I have heard they have delicious cornetti filled with Nutella!

Another secret bakery is at the corner of Via S. Gallo and Via delle Ruote, near Piazza Indipendenza. Its name is Laboratorio di Pasticceria Fratelli Arrighi. It opens around 2 am and if you see nobody out do not worry: knock and someone will open the door!

If you are coming back to Florence by train in late evening and you arrive at Campo di Marte train station, you can appease your growling stomach with a pastry at Futura Pasticceria. It is located just a few steps from the train station, in Via Campo d’Arrigo 14. This bakery opens a little earlier than the others, between midnight and 3 am, but only from Monday to Friday.

Outside the historic centre, in the nice and quiet Piazza Giorgini 22 you can find Il Re della Foresta. As for the other bakeries but particularly in this case, it is important not to be loud since this is a very quiet residential area. Here you can taste a sfoglia alle mele (apple pastry) and a delicious bombolone alla Nutella (a big fried doughnut filled with Nutella, of course).

Last but not least, The (truly secret) Family Bakery in S. Croce. Looking the façade of S. Croce church, take the street on the left side of the church and then the fourth on the left , Via de’ Macci. You will find the bakery on your left, and the door is covered by caged bars. You can see them bake into the back, so go on and knock! But remember to be extremely respectful and quiet, otherwise they won’t serve you.

At this point, all I can do is wishing you good research and buon appetito!!

DOGALI – A tasty aperitif

written by Ilaria Gelichi

It’s nearly 7 pm, time for an aperitif. My friends and I often choose Dogali, a restaurant-café in the Campo di Marte-Stadium area, in Florence. Of course I do not mean the “classic” aperitif, that is a glass of wine, chips and appetizers… At Dogali’s you definitely eat!

Some history: Dogali exists since 1914, when the grandfather of the present owner founded it. Since then Dogali’s success increased and it has become really appreciated by young people, who choose it for lunches, snacks and aperitifs.

Just order something to drink (a glass of wine, a Spritz, a soft drink…) and sit. Especially during the weekend I suggest you to book a table, otherwise finding one it will be very difficult. You can serve yourself at the counter, you will find crostini, focaccia (flat bread with salt and olive oil), appetizers and 2-3 different kinds of pasta. But that’s not all: some nice guys will come to the tables and offer you pastas, risottos and – especially – the well-known delicious Dogali’s coccoli with ham (coccoli are made with fried dough). It not really an aperitif, but a dinner! And the price? The cost of the drink, which is 7-8 euros. It is open for lunch and it is also possible to book a table for dinner. Highly recommended!

Address: Viale Malta, 5r – Florence, Italy

Info & booking: (+39)055 679556 – info@dogali1914.it

Desde España hasta Florencia, Istituto Europeo

de Encarni Isabel Tirado Berrio

Hola, soy Encarni tengo 23 años vengo de un pequeño pueblo del sur de España.

Desde pequeña he vivido en casa con mis padres y mis 2 hermanos, aunque para salir o ir al colegio teniamos que coger el autobus.

Siempre he estado muy interesada por las matemáticas y la ciencia con lo que decidí estudiar Administración y Dirección de Empresas.en la Universidad de Jaén. Al estar tan cerca de casa me ha permitido continuar con mis padres y poder trabajar un poco para ganar algo de dinero.

Poder hablar de mi trabajo es algo que me da mucha satisfación, no ha sido mucho trabajo pero si muy interesante, 5 años enseñando a niños en clases de apoyo es algo muy divertido desde mi punto de vista, se aprende al mismo tiempo que se enseña, lo bonito es poder ver el resultado y sentir como los chicos confian en tí cada día para aprender y aprobar sus examenes.

Otra de mis aficciones es viajar y conocer culturas diferentes, y puesto que el pueblo es algo que se queda pequeño, hace 3 años tuve la oportunidad de venir a Messina (Italia) para hacer un proyecto Erasmus de 10 meses. A partir de ese momento descubrí que me encantaba la lengua, la cultura, la música, la cocina y todo lo que tuviese que ver con este magnífico país.

Afortunadamente, después de 3 años, el Istituto Europeo me ha vuelto a ofrecer la oportunidad de volver a Italia para hacer unas prácticas de 4 meses en la secretaria del centro. Una experiencia que sin duda me enseñará muchisimo.En este tiempo intentaremos preparar buenos artículos de interés y de actualidad para amenizar el blog. Ademas de actividades fuera de horarios de clase que harán de esta experiencia, un verano inolvidable.

Un saluto.

Encarni

MEDITERRANEAN DREAMS

written by Ilaria Gelichi

SOGNI MEDITERRANEI
(Mediterranean dreams)

Fiesole, Civic Archaeological Museum

June, the 1^st – September, the 1^st 2013

an exhibition by FRANCO MAURO FRANCHI

 Franco Mauro Franchi was born in Castiglioncello, a small town by the sea near Leghorn, in 1951. He is a sculptor, painter and sketcher. He experienced sculpture for the very fist time when he was a child, in Tarquinia, a small town in southern Tuscany where some relatives of him lived. Tarquinia is situated in the heart of the ancient Etruscan territory and is home of the Etruscan Archaeological Museum. Young Mauro Franco visited quite everyday the museum, being fascinated by those figures lying on their sarcophagus, looking at the horizon. The marks of the chisel on stone sculptures and the fingerprints of the author on terracotta ones made them look very contemporary, and made Mauro’s imagination soar.

Now he has the opportunity of showing his works in Fiesole, home the ancient Etruscan people.

Opening time: everyday, from 10 am to 7 pm

Info: (+39)0555961293 – infomusei@comune.fiesole.fi.it – www.museidifiesole.it

TIRAMISU’ – Alessandra style

written by Ilaria Gelichi

Tiramisù is a typical delicious Italian dessert, probably everybody knows it. It is made with fresh eggs, cream cheese, Savoiardi or Pavesini biscuits, coffee and chocolate. The recipe slightly changes from one place to another, but the basic ingredients are always the same.

Today I am going to speak about a special type of tiramisù. Some people do not like the idea of eating raw eggs (tiramisù is not baked), so my friend Alessandra invented a tiramisù recipe where eggs are in some way cooked.

First of all, you need to prepare the custard (cream). I suggest preparing it the evening before, because it has to be very cool. The ingredients for the custard are:

milk – 250 ml

flour - 1 table spoon

sugar - 4 table spoons

4 yolks

Heat the milk with 2 table spoons of sugar in a pot on the stove. In the meantime, melt the flour in a small amount of cool milk. In a bowl, mix the yolks with the remaining 2 table spoons of sugar and add then the melted flour. Mix all and put the mixture in the pot with the heated milk. Mix up everything and keep stirring on the stove, until it the cream gets thicker. When it starts boiling, turn the stove off. Keep the custard in the fridge for some hours (or better, all night long), so that it gets very cool.

Once the custard is ready, put it in a bowl, add 250 grams of mascarpone cheese and mix it up. In another bowl whip 250 ml of fresh cream and then add it to the custard and the mascarpone cheese. In the meantime make some coffee (of course, Espresso!).

Now prepare the tiramisu in the baking tin, with the ingredients in this order: first, a layer of Pavesini biscuits (you will need a package of them) soaked into coffee, then a layer of the mixture of creams, then a layer of bitter chocolate cut in little pieces (you will need nearly 60 grams of it). Then, start again with the Pavesini, the creams and finish with some bitter chocolate powder.

Keep the tiramisù in the fridge for a couple of hours and eat it cool. Buon appetito!!!

Who I am

My name is Ilaria Gelichi, I am (almost) 30 years old and I was born and grew up in Florence. In my beautiful city I completed my studies – first the high school, then the University – and the leading thread it was always the same: foreign languages. I really enjoy studying them and I learn them easily, so choosing this path was quite simple. I have always loved the countries of Northern Europe and during my studies I decided to learn Finnish: I had a wonderful experience in Finland, where I attended a summer course of Finnish language and culture.

There are many things I love doing… First of all, since I was a child I practiced gymnastics and I dreamed about becoming a teacher. This dream came true many years ago, when I started teaching in a gym to girls between 5 and 13 years old. I absolutely love travelling: when I go abroad, I want to taste traditional dishes and try to speak the local language (and if I can’t speak the local language, I buy a phrasebook and try to use it!). One of the places I love to visit the most are the mountains, especially the Dolomites, where I go (when possible…) for trekking in summer and skiing in winter. You may think I am a sports person, but this is not completely true: like most women, I love shopping and fashion and in these last years I have been playing the role of a Florentine noblewoman of the Renaissance. I am part of a group of  historical re-enactments and with them I take part to parades and practice Renaissance dance, not only in Tuscany but also in the rest of Italy and abroad. That’s not all: another one of my passions is cooking and I really enjoy organize dinners with friends to try new recipes – especially desserts, but not only.

I currently collaborate with Istituto Europeo in Florence, where I help in the secretariat and in the orientation of foreign students. I am really glad I had this opportunity, because I enjoy working with foreigners and I think it is also a great responsibility:  trying to transmit them the love for Italy, its history, culture and language.