Where not to eat ice-cream in Rome?

It is hard to name the place with the best ice-cream in Rome. There are quite a few places claiming to be the best but frankly when it comes to taste, everything can be quite subjective.
Since it would be at least as hard naming the worst one, I am not even going to try walking down that road...

We have visited many different ice-cream parlors (gelaterie) while in Rome and liked most of what we tasted. We figured that if it looked good it must taste good as well. We are happy to report, we did not stumble upon a bad ice-cream while in Rome - actually not even a mediocre one.
It is fair to say we can judge pretty well by the looks of them and we definitely skipped the suspiciously looking ones. We usually look for just the right combination of consistency and natural color.

Prices for a cone (cono) or a small cup (coppa piccola) start at around 2 Euros at better places. You should expect to pay more if you order sitting down.

The place that deserves a special mention is not selling the worst ice-cream in Rome, but falls into the tourist trap category just as well.
We successfully avoided Gelateria Antica Roma on Via di Propaganda, 26 (near the Spanish steps). At this place they supposedly offer mediocre ice-cream for an outrageous price. You can expect to pay 16 Euros for a single cone of ice-cream!
Due to its top location, this Gelateria seems to be always busy with tourists in spite of all the bad publicity it has been getting lately. I hope you will not be one of them.

If you are looking for a place with some really good ice-cream in Rome, you should check out our next post with our top selection.

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Wordless Wednesday: Roman Forum remains

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Idrija - Home of Mercury, Lace and Žlikrofi

The town of Idrija does not usually find itself on a average tourist's itinerary when rushing through Slovenia. It is true travelers are discovering Slovenia, but usually they still stay on the beaten path - if we suppose such a path even exists in Slovenia.
Unfortunately by doing this, they miss some pretty awesome places. In my opinion Idrija is definitely one of the places that deserve more attention. Since it was recently added to the UNESCO heritage list, I am obviously not the only one with such an opinion.

Centuries old lace making tradition is not the only thing this over 500 years old Slovenian town has to offer. During the annual lace festival the thread used for lace making is carefully intertwined with rich technical heritage mostly related to half of a millennium of mercury mining and many local culinary delights. You should definitely consider visiting this charming town during the festival - I wrote about it in my previous post.

Amongst the sights there is one definitely worth visiting - Antonijev rov mine shaft is a part of Idrija Mercury Mine that remains open to the public. The mine was actually officially closed a few years ago but serious mining has not been practiced for a couple of decades.

A visitor to Antonijev rov (literary meaning Antony's shaft) can get a pretty good idea about how mining looked in the old days. Now the mine is closed down due to exploited ore deposits but the memory of life revolving around mercury mining still remains very alive within the people of this old Slovenian town.

A charming castle located near the very center of the town houses an interesting museum, mostly dedicated to mining history. There are also other items on display but mainly things revolve around mercury and lace.

There are also a few other dislocated units of museum scattered around the town and some interesting sites are also located in the surrounding hills but I will address those at some other time.

For more information about Idrija and its surroundings you should click on the Idrija label.

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