Being in Italy is a treat in many ways but the food is absolutely the best part of coming here. During our week we sampled the typical Italian food like risotto, pizza, pasta of different kinds, gnocchi (one of my favourites this week), focaccia, cheese, parma ham and tiramisu. All of this of course came with very good Italian wine (chianti, barbera d’alba, sparkling red and white…) or occasionally a beer. And on top of all this we averaged two ice creams a day, the italian ice cream really is extremely good.
In Pisa I found the perfect tiramisu! I have had one once before which was made by a colleague at ESO (European Southern Observatory) where I wrote my master thesis. This colleague, Paola, was a happy italian astronomer and also an excellent cook. She made my stay at ESO a bright one in many ways (she is the only person I know who speak klingon!). At one point she made a tiramisu and for some reason I missed the occasion when it was eaten. But kindly enough she saved me a piece (I had forced her to..) and I remember it as the best coffee break ever! However the tiramisu in the little cosy restaurant with the cute german waiter was definately in the same league. Although I was already full after having a lovely tuna carpacchio and ravioli I had absolutely no problem finishing every bit of it. Suddenly Pisa is my favourite Italian city.