We’d been planning a day trip to Modena in homage to Master of None, but our airbnb host, in a rare moment of sanity, directed us instead to Ravenna, a seaside town I’d never heard of. Before I googled the mosaics, of course I checked Happy Cow for the vegan options. Then the plan got the green light!
It’s a pretty vegan friendly place! We started with (second) breakfast at Grinder Coffee Lab, a charming little cafe with really fun decor. There were only two vegan croissants when we got there at 11am – this plain one, and a seeded one. It was only€1.10, which seemed pretty reasonable, and it was nice and flaky.
We’d planned to return for an afternoon bagel – the Erykah Badu is their vegan option. But our plans changed when we walked past this sign outside Passatelli, closer to the town centre. I was torn between the vegan lasagne and the sausage plate – eventually I decided on the former and Dr HH the latter. When he ordered it, the waiter looked like he’d never even heard of such a dish but he dutifully noted it down. He came back a minute later to report that it was “finished” – at 2pm on a Monday?! After that, Dr HH switched to a vegetarian dish instead. What a shame!
At least I got my lasagne, though. It didn’t contain any ragu, tomato or cheese, and was the greenest dish I’ve ever had, but it was hearty, contained tofu and had some nice creaminess going on. Acceptable, but not particularly inspiring.
Things picked up when we got to Gelateria Panna e Fragola, though. It’s a small place with some nice outdoor seating, and some exciting vegan flavours: peach, coconut, vanilla, almond, pistachio and salted peanut.
How could I resist salted peanut for my last ice cream of the holiday?! It tasted like a Snickers bar and I couldn’t have been happier. The pistachio was also really good. As a bonus, I think this was the cheapest gelato of the trip, and some of the boldest flavours too!
Even without a good range of vegan options, I’d still recommend a trip to Ravenna. The churches themselves weren’t that exciting…
…but the mosaics really were! We just wandered around with our mouths agape.
And if you want to make a full day of it, get the bus to the beach as well! We enjoyed a little paddle in the sea to cool us down. Mosaics, vegan food and the sea – what more could you want on holiday?!
Herbivores' Heaven 
Yey Pistachio gelato!
I love seeing Churches outside of the states! They are so pretty, maybe I would be a devote Christian if the churches were as pretty as the one you visit.
They definitely knew how to lure people in! Unfortunately now you have to pay to get into most churches (as a tourist), which means it’s quite rare for us to actually see the inside of any these days.
I guess that makes sense. I am sure the repairs are crazy! I remember reading an article about how American churches (at least the pretty ones lol) try to make money for their communities by letting people outside of the church get married for a fee. I’m guilty of this, my husband and I “shopped around” for a church when were getting married, just in case a parent objected to a secular ceremony.
A Master of None-inspired trip to Modena would’ve been fun to read about, but Ravenna seems lovely!
Yes, I think we probably made the right choice. And we got vegan croissants!
It looks like it was definitely worth the detour to Ravenna – beautiful architecture and beautiful ice cream too!
Yes, if I hadn’t spotted that gelateria on Happy Cow first, we might not have gone!
That gelato sounds incredible. And cheap croissants???? Oh the envy. Such a shame about that Dr HH switches to a vegetarian dish. That makes no sense, but whatever lol.
Yeah, it was a shame that he didn’t stick with a vegan option (he is vegetarian), but otherwise we did well in Ravenna. We had so many croissants in Italy, it was wonderful!