Wednesday, October 1, 2014

#80 Eat gelato in Italy

Oh, did we eat gelato! It began with a late-night snack upon our arrival in Monterosso (the fifth town in the Cinque Terre). The next day, we decided to do the “Cinque Terre/Five Town Challenge”—gelato in every town for me, espresso in every town for Super Husband…in ONE DAY. Bleh.

It had its ups and downs, much like the terrain we were crossing. We were hiking along the coast to get to each town, so sometimes a cold gelato was perfectly refreshing…as long as I ordered the right flavor. Basil and lemon was my favorite combo. The creamier, chocolate or berry-flavored ones were a little heavy for that kind of climate. The heat and humidity was oppressive enough on it’s own without the sick-feeling of too much sugar or milk. In the end, we did it! (Although Super Husband didn’t sleep much that night, thanks to all the caffeine.)

Strangely enough, we weren’t sick of gelato yet (hooray for reasonable portion sizes). So, upon our arrival in Rome, we scouted out a gelato to eat on the Spanish Steps, Roman Holiday style! We had about one a day from then on, although the “last” one turned out to be so bad (strange, considering it was from the “famous” gelateria Giolitti) that we decided to have another, small one, just to end on a happier note. Most unusual and unique flavor? Tartuffo from a shop near Piazza Navona. It’s made with truffles! Quite the delicacy and worth every euro!

My recommendation is to stick with the fruit and herb-flavored gelati. Anything else can be a bit overwhelming, even in small portions. You can’t beat the price there, either—a gelato costs the same as a very inexpensive soft-serve cone here! And it’s WAY tastier! I think there’s a conspiracy—American manufacturers are perfectly capable of making some semblance of gelato (BREYERS, I’M LOOKING AT YOU!), but they think they can slap on a high price sticker, just because we tend to view it as a “foreign delicacy.” For goodness sakes, people, it doesn’t actually get shipped from Italy! There’s no import cost to offset! So quit gouging us for this HEALTHIER and yummier version of ice cream! (They just want to keep us fat and broke. Seriously.)

OK, rant over. I really did live out my “gelato dreams” in Italy. Mmm-mmm!

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