Best Gelateria in Modena and Café Concerto

X'mas creche ice cream cake at Slurp!

The weather was really good this weekend for the middle of winter. Though we woke up at noon on Saturday and only had a few hours of daylight left, Hub insisted that we go out to enjoy the good weather.

Casa del Babbo Natale

We started out at Slurp! - Opla buys their ice cream birthday cakes from them and they told me that it's the best gelateria in Modena. Then E (who lives nearby) told me the same thing. I was skeptical at the beginning, believing that K2's the best, but since I've tested Slurp! I now only swear by it.

The ice cream counter

Just the variety of flavours available is amazing all on its own. My favourite flavours are stracciatella and Mandarin orange. And they don't charge you extra for whipped cream. Prices start at 1 euro though we've never managed to eat for less than 3-4 euros per person each time we were there, we almost always have a second serving each.

After that we walked to Modena centro. There were lots of people in the streets as there were street performances, Christmas stalls, antique stalls etc. I must say that Modena is lovely seen in this light.

Café Concerto

As usual, within a few minutes of walking, the Hub suggested that we buy ourselves something to drink in a café. It's very frustrating going out with people like that. There were so many things to see out there and all you ended up doing was trying to catch them from the window of your café. And paying for drinks that cost at least 5 times what you would pay for when you get them from your supermarket. This time round we were at the Café Concerto - a Modenese institution.

Beautiful marble exterior of the Duomo, but doesn't it look like it's sinking?

I was told they have daily lunch buffets at 15 euros pax. Made a note in the head to try it out in the New Year. Lovely place with high ceilings and a view of the marble Duomo and its tower. I ordered gnocco fritto stuffed with ham and it came nicely presented and only slightly more expensive than the one sold at the Formigine pool.

We window-shopped, looked at the stalls, enjoyed the street performances and on the way back to the car, Hub tried to get us to stop for another drink - this time at an Irish pub. I said yes because I was hoping that they might do pub food, but I suspect that it would be a futile hope and anyway couldn't find out since it wasn't open yet.