all the gelato.

before leaving italy, i tried very hard to sample a lot of gelato.

it was necessary to eat as much as possible before moving!

so, here's a rundown of some gelato spots around milan, some of which are among the city's best.

1. alberto marchetti

here i had two flavors, which is pretty standard in italy. one was white chocolate with salted caramel and the other was chocolate chip. the gelato at marchetti is really loose; it doesn’t actually scoop. they simply kind of swirl it on to the cone.

2. gelateria della musica

always known as a solid choice in milan's gelato scene, there are several locations of della musica around the city. here i had biscottocio, a vanilla gelato with cookies and fudge, and pistacchio.
gelato at della musica is much thicker and they have more interesting and diverse flavors that are all named after some musical inspiration.

3. grom

grom is a well-known chain around italy. here i stuck with fruit flavors, lampone e limone (raspberry and lemon). the flavors here are solid, but their fruit flavors not as creamy as i would like them to be.

4. pavé

this is a new spot on the scene. also with a interesting selection of flavors, i stayed pretty neutral with pistacchio and tarte tatin. the texture was really nice. the flavor of my choices were not overly amazing, but still good. i also sampled white chocolate with lime and salt, a unique choice.

5. massimo del gelato

seriously, this place is my absolute, hands down favorite place for gelato anywhere. i arrived on a sunday afternoon to find a line out the door. this time i selected granite, similar to sorbet or italian ice. i had three flavors because i simply could not decide on only two! the three were arancia di sicilia, limone e fragola. (sicilian orange, lemon, and strawberry) they were super tart and mouth puckering, which i loved. the orange was especially amazing.

6. gelaterie milanesi

i tried to go back to gelateria della musica for some peanut butter gelato, but they were closed. so i headed down the street to another neighborhood gelateria. here i chose two fruit flavors that were combinations: strawberry/pomegranate and mango, coconut and ginger. the texture of the gelato was good. the strawberry flavor was awesome. the mango one only really tasted of coconut.

7. rinomata gelateria

this gelateria at the top of the navigli has a solid selection of gelato in both flavor and quality. it's very creamy and even though it's in quite a touristy spot, it's not overpriced. here i had pistacchio e cannella (cinnamon). 

8. gelateria giova

i was walking from my apartment one night when i came across this gelateria. it seemed popular so i decided i would try it out. here i had crema di limone e marscapone con fragola (cream of lemon and marscapone with strawberry). unfortunately, the lemon was too medicinal, but the strawberry was great. 

9. gelateria della musica (again!)

this is the best, close place to my apartment. so i did like to stop here more than others. 

10. riva gelateria (in varenna, on lake como)

the last gelato before leaving milan was up at the lakes. unfortunately, i don't remember the flavors, but it was good enough!

porto. lisbon. sintra. a week in portugal.

slowly wrapping up the portugal focused posts! 

time to get caught up so that i can share about life in dubai once i arrive there next week.

so, here's some of the adventures and recommendations from our week in portugal this past spring. 

but, this is a long one, so bear with me here! 

as kind of is our practice, we took the free city tour while in porto (in between those port tastings!)

there was some off and on rain that week, but thankfully, we stayed dry on the tour.

i loved the tile work on all the buildings and this particular one is just across the street from the start of the tour. it's a shame that the cute girl in the pic is neither one of us. 

trying to replicate the ever popular 'i amsterdam' popular photo spot is this large blue porto one.

caitlin loved the miniature shopping basket in the shop selling tins of fish.

however, our basket stayed completely empty because while i hear it's delicious, i think the idea of fish in a tin sounds disgusting.

but yes, i occasionally eat canned tuna. i realize this makes zero sense.

afternoon wanderings.

coffee shop break.

and plenty of time for snacks, like eclairs from this highly recommended eatery.

the unfortunate thing about stopping here late in the day is that only the class eclair was available for sale.

but we did find this great little bar just down the road from our airbnb.

forgive the dark pics. i didn't edit them and you should know the vibe you'll get if you go.

red wine from the douro valley starts at 2 euro a glass.

plus they had some cute little munchies.

and art by costah could be found everywhere. i thought this little person was adorable and i was happy to see it around the city.

we also made a trip into the 'harry potter' bookstore where j.k. rowling supposedly outlined the entire series and began writing the first book. on the walking tour, we only saw the outside of livraria lello, but the following day we made it inside.

it's quite complicated going inside. you must wait in a line to buy a ticket and then wait in line to use it. you must put all bags in a locker as well. if you buy something the ticket price comes off the cost of the book.

however, the bookstore is so crowded that you can't really enjoy the atmosphere.

so that's quite unfortunate.

if this was once a place that inspired j.k. rowling, it's basically now only a museum to that effect because of all the tourists.

looking towards all of porto's port houses.

some of porto's sights from our walking tour.

we finally got some blue skies crossing the bridge over to the port lodges.

and this guy was just hanging out.

we knew of pasteis de nata from some of our portuguese students and while they look a bit underwhelming, they were, in fact, ah-mazing. we sampled them here first in porto.

for dinner one night we made what was probably one of the most local stops we've ever encountered. speaking only english here was challenging. but they reportedly have the best bifanas around and i thought we should try them out.

a bifana is basically a pork sandwich.

so popular in portugal that even mcdonald's has made version.

while the sandwich was good, the atmosphere was a bit intimidating.

and we watched the guy next to us eat far too many of these sandwiches. like four or five.

we each had one.

we cruised through this hipster brunch joint. i ordered these fancy looking pancakes.

unfortunately, they look better than they taste. they were far too dense and heavy and not made to order. much of their other food looked solid and i would happily go again.

i would just order differently.

there's a lot of great seafood to be had in portugal. unfortunately, caitlin and i aren't always the biggest fans, so we often scope out other options that might be available. 

with that in mind, we found this great little bao spot. pretty delicious. 

bao dessert. well, ehhhhhh.

more eclairs for our train ride to lisbon. this time we got to try a variety of flavors.

so delicious.

after we arrived in lisbon, we started wandering towards the historic center.

our favorite guy rick had some suggestions for a walking tour of some lisbon sights.

city sights.

we stopped for some beers at this old lisbon brewery that's also a large restaurant.

seems every european city has an arch as a focal point.

i insisted that we stop for some ginjinha tasting.

ginjinha is sour cherries infused with alcohol with added sugar. it's a popular portuguese drink and you can buy a shot sized glass for a euro or so.

this funicular is known as 'gloria' and connects to the barrio alto, a neighborhood which is up a very steep hill, so walking it is not easy. the ride is super short, but only costs a couple euros.

we met up with a couple of friends from work to try out jesus e goes, a restaurant featured in somebody feed phil, a netflix show.

the restaurant is indian in cuisine with portuguese influences.

this curry was super delicious.

we also ordered a couple desserts.

everything was so good.

so this is for sure a recommended spot. there's only a handful of tables, so be sure to make a reservation.

we spent one of lisbon days taking a short ride to sintra.

sintra often shows up on lists of most beautiful places.

and there's a reason for that.

my photos are unlikely to do it justice.

this is the palacio de pena.

this romanticist castle is quite eye catching.

we had to wait to get inside, and the interior visit is quite structured.

but the exterior was my preference anyways, as it's covered in bright colors and gorgeous colors.

nearby castle of the moors is fun, if a little nerve-racking, to hike around.

the steps are little uneven, and steep in some places.

and, as is common in europe, there's not too many guard rails.

this always makes my stomach drop.

but we hiked all around and then enjoyed some of the views over sintra.

found this great lunch at a little spot in the center of town.

and then we headed to another popular spot in town.

while there is a beautiful palace on the grounds, the garden are the real gem.

i was unwilling to climb the stairs in this tower, but you can see caitlin braved it and made it up the tower.

there are a lot of rock formations to wander around and on.

there's a bit of traffic going both directions making some of the narrow pathways difficult to traverse.

we had seen this unique spiral chamber on instagram plenty of times.

so it was a must do stop on our sintra day tour.

after our return from sintra, we hit up a small, but quite nice wine bar.

this was a recommendation from a portuguese family and getting a table is not easy.

but we managed to snag one for a single glass of wine.

they'll let you try quite a few to decide which is the right one for you to enjoy.

if you can't get in the door at ba, maybe one of these alternatives will have a table for you!

our last full day in lisbon was a rainy one.

one that if you were home would keep you on the couch.

but we decided to make full use of the cheap uber rides in town and try to make the best of it.

we got out of our uber at the tower of belem and instantly regretted it.

it was raining sideways, but i insisted on taking a picture.

and then we immediately ordered another uber to take us to a place where we could be indoors.

for pasteis de belem. 

since this is where they originated, this is the place to try this treat.

we ordered six to share.

and i could have eaten six by myself.

this is a must stop if you're in lisbon.

we had hoped to go to the neighboring monastery, but it was just too rainy.

so we hopped another uber to a nearby market, which was more outdoorsy than we realized so we settled in for another round of cozy beverages.

and then one more uber to check out the time out market in the city center.

this place is full of food options created by well known chefs.

there are a lot of interesting food and beverage options to sample.

on a busy, rainy day it was challenging to find a spot to sit, but the food was delicious and would be a fun place to be with a group of friends.

we had a great week in portugal and i can't wait to get back there again.

if we had to do it over again we'd probably do one less day in porto and one more in lisbon, as we didn't really give lisbon enough time to see and do everything it has to offer.

this small country has so much to offer and is definitely a don't miss destination for your bucket list!