I wrote about the famous, historical Heladería Coppelia ice cream parlor in Havana, Cuba, over 15 years ago, not long after this blog started! I initially was drawn to Coppelia by its iconic and distinctive architectural structure, and was further interested when learning about the multiple currencies at play, and plethora of flavors available. Finally, this year, we were able to visit Cuba – and Coppelia.
The architecture of this “cathedral of ice cream” is truly something you have to see to believe. Just imagine that a concrete UFO landed in a Havana park, taking up a block of prime Vedado neighborhood real estate. We walked around the building several times just to take in all of its angles. Though the landmark 1966 Mario Girona architecture of Coppelia is unchanged since I wrote in 2008, there have been some other significant shifts. Coppelia used to have 2 separate lines for the country’s 2 separate currencies (CUC and CUP). However, Cuba eliminated the CUC, which was pegged to the US dollar, in 2020.
The crowds, too, seem to have gone from Coppelia. Cuba is currently in the midst of an economic crisis, which was apparent during our visit in frequent supply and energy shortages throughout the island, among other issues. This situation manifested itself in Coppelia only having 2 flavors available when we visited: guava and coconut (though it seems that a limited amount of flavors was standard situation for a while), and no lines. There were a few tourists around when we ordered, but locals were the vast majority of patrons.
The first day in Cuba we attempted to visit Coppelia, but it was closed for some kind of special event. Fortunately, it was open the second time we stopped by. Customers can order ice cream from two floors of table seating or at counters spread throughout the gargantuan complex. We climbed a circular staircase and sat on the second floor, admiring the view and the colorful Mid-Century Modern glass and wood dividers (slightly marred by ugly computer-generated signs). We placed our order directly with a roving, uniformed waiter at out table, and there was plenty of room at the counters. We each ordered a jimagua (two scoops) one of each flavor, brought to us promptly in orange plastic dishes. The total cost for 2 people was only 36 Cuban pesos, or roughly 14 US cents. It felt wrong to enjoy a dessert as such a low price.
The ice cream was good, but the experience was the real draw. Coppelia is a real part of almost 60 years of Cuban history, and one of the few places where people from all walks of life can still enjoy a treat together. An ETW Bucket List food location checked off!
At the start of our latest trip we lamented openly the lack of gelato in Lisbon, but little did we know that, since our last trip in 2015, there had been something of a gelato renaissance in Lisbon. We’re talking about Italian-style gelato here, not ice cream (though Lisbon has that too, the most famous ice cream maker being Santini) Now gelato shops seem to be popping up everywhere (especially anywhere tourists happen to be) but most of it is just meh. But never fear, there are now some great places to get gelato in Lisbon, too.
We were on our way back from a bike ride when we came across 
Alongside the typical gelato flavors you might expect, there was also dulce de leche, avocado and malbec. You can also get fresh-fruit sorbet flavors, tasty coffee drinks and the classic Argentine mate drink. We were there for gelato, however, so we sampled the dulce de leche and the marsala wine sambayon, an Argentine riff on 
We are all about the ice cream treats from all over the world. One that has caught our eye is Thai rolled ice cream, which looks unlike anything we have ever seen! Plus, it is a perfect way to celebrate Thai New Year,
The purported best coffee in the world is served at Coffee Collective (Vendersgade 6D 1363 Copenhagen K) which now has a mini empire of shops in Copenhagen. We visited the location in 
After coffee, we wandered around the Torvehallerne a bit more to check out the other stores, which included cafes, greengrocers and bakeries. We supplemented our coffee with cardamom and cinnamon rolls from Laura’s Bakery in the same market (20 K apiece), which were quite good. We were pretty excited to see that they are actually called “Cinnabuns” in Danish, too. We took our breakfast to eat on the wooden tables flanking the market, and as you can see from the photo below there are truly bikes everywhere!
One of our go-to places for a cool summer treat is 
Our World Cup coverage continues with an unexpected cross-cultural treat from Japan. 
So obviously we are going to be obsessed with any ice cream store that is named in homage to Celia Cruz’s signature phrase and has seats made from guayabera shirts. Azucar Ice Cream (1503 SW 8th St., Miami, FL) is all that and more – and the ice cream is more than good! There is a huge list of flavors written on the chalkboard wall, but only a portion are usually on offer. The flavors that stand out are the tropical varieties: plantain, Cuban coffee and mango, etc., and of course Abuela Maria! This flavor consists of Maria sugar cookies (apparently
So as any fair-weather reader of this blog knows, we love ice cream, whether in hot or cold weather. This attitude is shared, perhaps unsurprisingly, by Russians, who enjoy ice cream year round. A recent Culture article on 
Eating The World 