MY BIG FAT ICE CREAM OBSESSION....

Summer's here which means it's open season in the ice cream eating championships. Each year I break records. My number one guilty pleasure above all else is ice cream. I would quite happily sacrifice drink, chocolate, crisps, yorkshire puds, meat, fishfinger butties and midget gems if it meant I didn't have to give up ice cream. But, it's not just any old ice cream. Here's the run down on 'special' ice cream which delights me more than life itself.. 
Numero uno is undoubtedly from Notoriani's in Blackpool. It's been there years and years and hasn't changed a bit. It has an old-fashioned ice cream parlour serving Knickerbocker glory's to die for. The ice cream is a one flavoured variety and I think it contains Carnation milk which gives it a unique creamy flavour. It's served in an old fashioned way by staff who sculpt it onto a cone using a sort of spatula. Bewd-a-ful. 
Followed closely behind are Haagan Daz cookies and cream flavour. Reminds me of going to the pictures and complements popcorn superbly. We luckily have another family-run ice cream parlour close by with Bonds of Elswick. Bonds make multi-varieties of flavours, all of which are excellent. My personal favourite there is English sherry trifle and strawberry flavours. Try getting parked there on a sunny Sunday afternoon.. impossible! 
And lastly, I was fortunate to visit a little town called San Gimignano in Tuscany on previous holidays. If you read this and get the chance to go to SG, as well as being one of the most gorgeous Italian renaissance towns you'll ever see, visit the world renowned Gelateria di Piazza owned by the very lovely Sergio Dondoli. Orgasmic times can be had by a) entering the gelateria and seeing the selections ranging from pistachio flavour (sourced from Tuscan pistachios), blackberries and lavender, champagne and peach, and b) check out and sample the chocolate section. Oh My God. You just want to launch into the fridge display head first and not come out for week. And whilst you're waiting to be served, because the queues are VERY long, check out the photos on the walls of the celebrities who've visited Sergio's. I remember seeing signed photos of Bill Clinton, world famous footballers especially the Italians, Luciano Pavarotti to name but a few. 
Ah yes. Thank you God for giving us the Italians who in turn gave us opera, Ferraris, art, style, fashion, food and wine, great football, culture, Vespas, films.... and best of all.... the ultimate ice cream. Grazie!