In Naples, people consume large quantities of ice; not only during summers, but also during winters, they drink a la glace, and there are some people on the streets selling ice and frozen snow, by weight, which they keep under a cover, a pound of which costs a couple of grains.
Every celebration features the rinfrischi ingianzati — cream, lemonade, orange drink, etc. While granted that these things may be very pleasant and refreshing during summers, when consumed in moderation, the fact that they are used also during winters, even more so during this season than in summer, really amazes me; in Venice, it is also more popular during winters, while summers show a larger consumption of coffee and hot chocolate. These delicacies are best prepared in Naples, as well as Genova and Florence. During summers, people usually make different shapes of fruits, for example, apples, pears, cherries, apricots, etc. from this freshly squeezed fruit juice. The taste is entirely natural, and the colours and forms are rendered quite well and are often decorated with the leaves of fruit trees.
March in Creative Museum Planner 2018 Designed by H2E.
Fragment from Nikolaus von Himsel (1729–1764) three volume travel diary (manuscript), Latvian Academic Library, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts