No self-respecting blog about Swansea is complete without a post about Joes ice cream! It’s an institution in Swansea and this year it’s celebrating 100 years of making unique vanilla ice cream.
Bit of history – in 1898 Lugi Cascarini came from Italy for work in Swansea. He set up a café, and then his eldest son Joe followed him and set up the ice cream parlour in St Helen’s. It’s still there today and has just had a refurb to mark it’s 100th year.
It’s not just a story about the famous ice cream though, strong links with the community were and continue to be forged. To celebrate the end of the second world war, where much of Swansea was bombed during the “Three Day Blitz” Joe gave away free ice cream to mark the occasion. During the reopening this year following the refurbishment, Joe’s ice cream gave away free ice cream once more.
My daughter and I have just been there, and we sat on the stools by the window. I had the strawberry Sundae which had liquid strawberry marshmallow running through it, and I topped it with chocolate and nuts.
There are 2 other parlours, one down the Mumbles and one in Llansamlet. Click HERE for more info.