Rome, or "How I became addicted to gelato"
- By Robyn Lee
- Nov 3, 2006
- Comments
[Prenote thinger: I'm tired. Very. Much so. Head flump-age has occured a few times today. I don't mean to make you read crap, but I'm banging this out in the wee dark hours of the morning because I'm going to St. Emilion this weekend and won't be able to blog from there. Let's see how well I can shove 4.5 days of Rome into one entry. AREN'T YOU EXCITED?!?! I'm leaving out addresses for now, but will try to update them later.]
- Colosseum
Rome has lots of ruins.
- gelatooo
Rome has lots of gelato.
Which one do you think I prefer?
The lack of bowel movements during my 4.5 day trip to Rome probably had something to do with subsisting primarily on pizza and gelato.
[pauses]
You still with me? Okay, just checking. Everybody poops, you know. And now I can tell you about the pizza, gelato, and maybe a bit about the ruins since that's what my trip was technically about: LOOKIN' AT ANCIENT STUFF.
My first taste of Rome took place at Bar Washington around the corner from our hotel, Nord Hotel Rome. Our flight had been delayed by an hour and most people weren't in the mood to hunt out a good restaurant by the time we got settled into our rooms, thus why we ate at a place whose menu was in 10+ languages. Not a good sign, eh?
- potato pizza
My potato pizza wasn't bad (can't go wrong with carbs + cheese + carbs), but it was overpriced and the worst pizza I ate during my trip. It goes to show that even "meh" pizza in Rome is possibly better than most pizza...elsewhere. Of course, what consitutes as better is a personal opinion. My overall observation of the pizza I ate was that they all had very thin, fairly crispy crusts, and weren't at all greasy nor heavy on the toppings. Awesome.
My fear that I wouldn't be able to find other gelato-loving people disappeared over dinner when my classmate Callie showed an excitement for gelato on par with my gelato craziness. I said I wanted gelato, she said she wanted gelato, and from that point onward we became gelato buddies. Gelato-induced friendship is a beautiful thing.
After finishing dinner, most of my class walked around with Callie and me in search for gelato. Callie's gelato radar managed to catch the glowing awning of a gelateria at the end of a street (whose name I can't remember, sorry) near our hotel.
- hehehehe
- my cup of awesomness
After hovering around the counter for way too long, I finally got a medium cup of pistachio and bacio (chocolate and hazelnut). AND THEN I WAS HOOKED. FOREVER. The pistachio gelato was full of little pistachio bits and the bacio was...well, you can't go wrong with chocolate and hazelnut. Beside the great flavors, the gelato was just so freakin' soft. So creamy. So spoon-able. So much more awesome than ice cream. Seriously...ice cream just doesn't seem right as long as gelato exists in this world.
- GELATO AHRHARHA YRAEHA
Callie and I would hold cups of gelato four more times during the trip. Hehe. Hehehehe.
Moving on.
- Vatican City
The next day we went to Vatican City. That sure is a fun place to visit on a Sunday...not.
- crowd
Waiting in line for almost 3 hours to get into the Vatican Museum (it's free on Sunday) sounds bad enough. Add a lecturing professor to the equation and a lame attempt at taking notes while slowly shuffling/pushing closer to the museum entrance with a gazillion other disgruntled tourists and you've got yourself a BIG POT-O-HUMAN-FUNNESS.
- omg we're there
I could hardly believe it when we got to the entrance. It existed! I had no idea!
- banned
As Callie pointed out, "NO UNITARDS!" Thank god we weren't wearing any.
- no photography allowed
Most of the museum is beautiful, but the main attraction is the Sistine Chapel. While waiting in line to get in, a prerecorded voice tells the crowd that they're not allowed to take photos. Of course, that doesn't stop anyone and no one can really enforce the rule when the chapel is stuffed beyond whatever capacity would be considered a fire satefy hazard.
- Damn, that's a lot of paint
![[smoosh]](http://static.flickr.com/117/285894610_bf2f1f5d8a.jpg)
- [smoosh]
Poking fingers with God probably doesn't make a "smoosh" sound, but we don't know for sure, now do we?
Sorry for failing to point out how awe-inspiring and beautiful the Sistine Chapel is. I'm tired now and I was tired then. It's really, reaaallly hard to appreciate the chapel when it's so chaotic that you feel like you might die there in a tangle of tourists' bodies and digital cameras. I know it can't be helped. [sigh]
- pizza!
The cultural programming coordinator for our school unexpectedly treated us to lunch, perhaps out of pity since we were all tired and went into the closest tourist-y looking restaurant. My cherry tomato and buffalo mozzerella pizza was certainly better than the potato pizza I had the night before. Not great, but not bad. I definitely prefer tomato in fruit form than in sauce form on my pizza.
- gelato time
While walking down a major road outside of Vatican City, Callie and I noticed people holding cups of gelato. Methinks it's gelato time. When Callie spotted this gelateria, she requested that the class stop for a treat to keep us sane. At least, that would've been my reason.
- [licks lips]
I got a medium cup (Callie ordered a large; she's hardcore) with crema [something something] and ....something. Yeah, how many brain cells does someone need to memorize the names of two flavors? I merely pointed to the second flavor since I didn't know what it was called, and after eating it I was still a bit unsure about what I was eating. It may have been hazelnut. But you know, it doesn't really matter if it tastes good. And it did. So. Good. The crema stuff had generous swirls of whipped cream-esque substance all throughout. We need more gelato with built-in whipped cream, don't you think? (Say yes.)
- Piazza del Popolo
Roman piazzas are nothing like anything I've seen before. They're just...huge. Open. Always with some beautiful monument/obelisk/whatnot to reinforce the "whoa" factor. One moment you're walking along a narrow, dirty street and then all of a sudden, air and spaciousness and prettiness appear.
- Piazza di Spagna
Some piazzas are more popular than others. Piazza di Spagna is usually swarming with people and is surrounded by upscale shops that are worth more than my soul. Since when did people need two Gucci stores on one street, you know? (They were probably a little different from one another, but still.) It's funny to walk down the street that runs into the middle of the piazza though; you suddenly feel very worthless. HAHAHA.
My professor let us go for the day after visiting Piazza di Spagna, but most of us stayed with her to visit Travestere (which we got to by piling into two taxis). It's a funky area with lots of restaurants and gelaterias. I'm trying to think of a better way to describe it, but...[shakes head]. It has character. What kind of character? Aghrahgha I don't know, it just has it, and you'll probably like it.
- wow, more pizza
We went to a random restaurant where I was the last to get my order of speck, cherry tomato and buffalo mozzerella pizza. It had everything I like about pizza: thin crust, chewy and crispy dough, slightly sweet cheese...
...oh my god I can feel my brain melting...
...seriously, I'm forgetting how to write about food...I'm also forgetting what it's like to be awake...
It'll be easier if I do a quick photos splodge. So. Moving on to Monday's activities...
We went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and all the fun forum stuff in between. And by fun stuff, I mean things that are really old and probably not in tip top shape. It's amazing to see remains from more than a thousand years ago, but after a while I didn't feel like I could take much more staring at ruins and taking notes about them as my professor rapidly spoke in slightly unnatural English-translated-from-French (because she's...French).
- outside and inside at the same time
We ate at a nearby outdoor restaurant under a canopy of vines and pretty vegetation...whatnot.
- pizza!
...Well, of course I had pizza. I got a plain ol' cheese, tomato and basil pizza. It was good, but the smallest one I had during my whole trip. Eh well, it's not like I couldn't benefit from smaller portions.
We were supposed to visit the Colosseum after lunch, but we were shut out just a few minutes until closing. If you plan to go there, make sure to get in line way before 3:30. We were actually in the line before they cut it off, but then they decided they didn't want to admit any more people. We sadly peered through the gates at the gazillion people inside and cursed someone as our tickets that were good for Palatine Hill and the Colosseum were now useless. Booo.
- Looks like NYC...a few decades ago?
So we took the metro to go to the Pantheon. We were all pretty traumatized by the metro; our first experience was at rush hour, meaning that my professor had to do some sort of body slam into the car so that our 10 person group could stuff itself in. Surprisingly, we all got in and out without bodily harm. Mentally was a different problem. Har har.
- Pantheon
Look, the Pantheon! Okay, moving on.
- Trevi Fountain
We also went to Trevi Fountain, which I won't bother to describe because I can't do any better than the photo. I loved it, although I'd love it more without the GINOMOUS CROWD OF HUMANS. Can I really complain when I'm part of that crowd though? Eh, I guess not.
My class parted at this point. I proposed a gelato break. Most of the class came along. Callie and I headed the group to...[really, I think you can guess this]...
- San Crispino
San Crispino. It's a tiny shop on a tiny street with a tiny sign. And it bursts with magical gelato awesome-ness.
- gelato containers
You can't see the gelato, but it's all good.
- my gelato cup
The man behind the counter smooshed honey and fig gelato into my medium cup. This stuff isn't like any other gelato I've had. It's...smoother. Creamier. Flavorful, but not overwhelming. Not too sweet. My classmates agreed that it was really good and one in particular who is obsessed with stracciatella said it was the best stracciatella she's ever had. She seriously kept talking about it the next day (and asking if we could go back), which made me wish I had tried it.
- smile!
Yes, it's the obligatory Callie and Robyn shot!
- Colosseum
The next morning we visited the Colosseum after the previous day's failed atttempt. It's huge. I liked it. Even though a gazillion people died in it. Yay, that's entertainment!
- lunch
For lunch we grabbed pre-made pizza squares from the bus terminal before we went to Tivoli Gardens. It wasn't bad for 1.70.
- classmate under a tree
After a bumpy bus ride, we finally got to the gardens (or Hadrian's villa. If you're curious to know the history behind all the stuff I'm talking about since I'm too lazy to explain them myself, you should google everything). My class sat on the grass while we had a fun fun lecture, and by fun fun I mean not that fun fun since we didn't have much time in the gardens (we missed seeing a chunk of it) before we had to catch the next bus back to Rome.
- pretty things
Do you need me to tell you it's pretty? This is why I take photos. Bwahaha. God, I'm lazy.
[IT'S ALMOST 4 AM! HAHAHAA! OH MY GOD I HAVE TO LEAVE IN LESS THAN THREE HOURS?!]
- I hope she doesn't mind that a stranger is posting her photo on the Internet
This is one of my favorite photos from one of the most...er, memorable experiences. The bus we caught to go back to Rome happened to be full of kids who just got out of middle/high school. Riding on a bus packed with Italian adolescents does not keep one's blood pressure down. While standing behind some obnoxious kids who kept shouting at each other and roughhousing or whatever it is that kids do (how old am I?!), one of my classmates told me that some kids just kept shouting swears over and over again. Mm...sounds like my middle/high school experience. At least we felt better once we could sit down. Later we found out that some kids in the back made fun of Callie because of her pink hair. Alllrightyy.
...I'm really glad I had that completely non-touristy experience though. DON'T HAVE KIDS, PEOPLE. (Just kidding; it's only a few kids out of a large group who are so annoying that you'd like to strangle them or make them suffer in neverending pain.)
- Giolitti
We eventually returned to non-adolescent-filled civilization. My stracciatella-obsessed classmate Anya asked me if I was going to get gelato. [insert chuckle] God, what else would I do? Anya, Nabylah and Callie accompanied me to Giolitto for a massive gelato feast.
- remember, you can click on the photos to MAGICALLY ENLARGE THEM
Their menu looked like it hadn't been updated in a few decades. Look at that awesome food photography! Mm, blue...curtain...thing. ;)
- quadruple gelato action!
We each got a large cup with three flavors each, topped with a flop of whipped cream and speared by a light tubular cookie.
- I hope she doesn't mind that I'm posting this photo
The face of a gelato-happy Callie.
- melty
I ordered coconut, hazelnut and white chocolate. Sadly I didn't taste much of the white chocolate since it was below the others and seemed to mix with the coconut. Coconut and hazelnut were pretty awesome though and After Eight (the green stuff in some of the other cups) was also mintily great. Oh, and can't forget the cream: SO TASTY. We agreed that this wasn't as good as San Crispino (Anya was disappointed by her stracciatella), but the sheer size of the 5.80 large cup would bring us back. Gluttony wins!
- texture
I'm giving you a texture close-up, in case you're interested. My god, I love the smooth creaminess of gelato. There's nothing else like it.
- pizza?...no way...
For dinner at Target, I unsurprisingly ordered pizza, which was thankfully much better than my breaded vegetable appetizer. Anchovies, tomatoes, cheese and basil is one of my favorite combinations. Anchovies give it that extra kick of...fishniess and sodium, yes? [rubs belly] I would've liked the crust more if it were a little crispier, but it was one of the better pizzas of the trip.
- McDonald's
After dinner I roamed around with a bunch of my classmates because...well, I wanted gelato. Obviously. On the way to gelato we passed a McDonalds whose "Road to America" promotion particularly amused me. What does the Arizona Dream taste like? What is the Arizona Dream?
- Wonder Woman
The costumes would've looked really odd if it hadn't been Halloween.
- more fun at night
While walking back to the Colosseum, we met Jesus. More accurately, we met a man dressed up as Jesus for Halloween, but it sounds better if I say I met Jesus-Jesus. He gave out some free rosary beads before going about to spread around more..Jesus-ness.
Ben said he knew a gelato place on the way called La Dolce Vita. So we went. Because I would've gone crazy if we didn't.
- Inanimate glowing cones of gelato need hugs
Yeah, I really like my gelato. I'd love one of these signs in my room because, ye know, THAT'S TOTALLY NORMAL. Lindsay said that touching the glowing gelato cone was alright as long as I didn't hike up my leg over it. [shudders] HUGS ONLY.
- gelato!
I got toffee and cookies, which was freakishly the same flavors that Linsday got. (Oh, if anyone noticed the missing Callie, she had gone somewhere else for dinner.) Cookies was better than toffee, but ye know...it's gelato and they were both pretty awesome. I kind of felt like dying after finishing off the cup since that was my second gelato feast for the day. Not that it wasn't totally worth it.
- The Colosseum at night
We hung out by the "oh my god it's finally tourist-free" Colosseum for a while. Maybe that's a good time to visit attractions: when they're closed and it's dark and no one else is around...oh wait, maybe not. It's fun if you're with a bunch of friends though. I took a photo of our shadows and Nabylah accidentally took one with flash, which means she took a picture of the ground. (It was really funny at the time. Probably unnaturally so.)
We walked back in the direction of the hotel, but Julie and I broke off when Ben, Nabylah and Lindsay found a bar advertising 2 Heinekens for 5 euros and wanted to cash in on the Halloween promotion. Ben said that if I were to get drunk for the first time anywhere, Rome would be a good place. I passed; maybe some ooother time.
I think I'm at the end of my rope now. Also, my fingers are semi-freezing. While we were in sunny Rome, Paris turned into a freezer. Now my extremities are lacking in blood flow and my nose is stuffed with mucus. Suh-weeeeet.
Oh, I really enjoyed visiting Rome. I hope that idea came out despite my lethargy. However, I realized that a main reason it was so great was because I really like my classmates. If I was around shitty people during the trip, it would've sucked no matter how good the gelato was.
...damn...gelato...so tasty...
...I ate gelato the second night I was back in Paris. I COULDN'T HELP IT. REALLY. Damn you, Rome; you made me a gelato addict.
Comments
Wow, just wow. The pictures you took really hit me hard with nostalgia. The very first place I had gelato in Italy was at the SM Maggiore one, if I remember correctly. Was the line ridiculsouly busy, as if people were trying to get into a club? That's what I remember most about it.
Also, the pizza in Italy is amazing, but I haven't found a place in NY that does the same thing. :( And ideas?
Hope you really enjoyed yourself in Rome. (=
1) The presence of the No Unitards sign indicates the presence of unitard-wearing people, which are a far more terrifying species than any other human, ranking alongside the Ebola virus in terms of Terrifying Alien Forces That Kill You By Infecting You With Evil.
2) Do you have to suck the gelato through those cookie tubes? Because that would be awesome. Just imagining that scenario makes me high.
Holy crap! So jealous. And hungry.
Those are some maad maad gelato feasts! At least you're a gelato and not drug addict! lol :)
Oooh, I went back to sugar sweet sunshine when in nyc last week. I was THISCLOSE to getting piggy pudding, then I realized how much I love banana pudding...and sigh. The banana pudding won out. It was so damn good though!
My friend went to the University of Arizona and said that when it rains in Arizona it always floods, so I think the Arizona Dream is dry weather.
Wow. I mean, WOW. :) Great pictures! It's cool that you got to know your classmates (and eat large amounts of gelato hoho). Hope you get some rest though. :D Take care!
Robyn, the best part, other than the description of your non-bowel movements, was the picture of you hugging the lit-up gelato cone. Genius.
These are one of the best gelato pics I've ever seen. You should be appointed as an official Italian icecream spokesman :)
Fabulous! And now that you've experienced Rome, you need to go back and do Naples.
I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to spoil your trip, but now that your appetite is whetted, you should know that Roman pizza is just a pale shadow of the glorius Napolitan pizza. ;)
Hey Robs,
Excellent photos, as usual. I had the same gelato experience during my first trip to Italy (Venice). I felt like if I ate nothing else for the rest of my life, that would be fine. Ah, those were the days, pre-sugar-free living.
Glad you're having a great time and seeing the world. I always marveled at how my hotel in Rome was right around the corner from the colosseum, and I walked past it every day to take the train. Every where I went, there were famous ruins. Just fantastic.
Thanks for posting all the fun photos. Brings back all kinds of lovely memories.
d.
now you can understand the horror and desolation i felt when i had to leave italy and return to the land of pseudo-gelato. I tried Ciao Bella and Laboritorio del gelato or however you spell that. It was infinitely inferior!!! and much more expensive, dammit.
I want to go back to Rome!! I miss Gelato, my fav was rose flavour in Florence!!!
Wow, your photos are coolio, and the stories of gelato are making me go a bit gaga. I went to Rome last December, and had gelato goodness somewhere near the Trevi fountain (my favourite bit of Rome). I really want to go back now :D
The pope wearing unitards...now that would be funny.
Would love to see the reaction if he peeked out of his balcony sporting a unitard.
Then again, I'd rather think about gelato.
hey there. i've been stalking your blog for quite some time now. yes, i admit i check for updates every day.
i especially like the way you write. definately has a storytelling flow to it.
i also write about food! i am the food/restaurant columnist for my uni's student newspaper. last time i reviewed a chicken wings joint and i'm actually working on another review of a cafe (where i had a slice of wonderful orange mocha cheesecake. so rick. so thick. so wonderful against the roof of your mouth......).
just wanted to say "hello" and "keep up the great work." oh and you are cute :D
I knew you'd LOVE gelato. How could anyone not? Your pictures are gorgeous!
*Big time DROOLZ* Gelato, gelato and more gelato. When I was backpacking throughout Italy, I just had to have at least one cone per day. The pizzas look so perfectly thin and crisp yet chewy at the same time. Anyway, try to have some pasta when you're still Italy ;) You'll love it! Have fun!
OMG GELATO. I want to go to Europe.... just for the food (and shopping)
wow, these pictures are creepy to look at, becuase I went to all of these places back in July. I'm really glad you took me up on my Giolitti recommendation, because the pictures of those sundaes totally took me back. BUT I DIDN'T TRY SAN CRISPINO!! ::regret:: thanks for posting, can't wait to hear more!!
Ok... (breathe breathe breathe) what a post!
Before I even get to the food, I have to say you take the best travel photos! I never manage to have that much presence of mind when I'm travelling, especially such crowded and stress-inducing locales like Rome. Awesome.
And the food. You would think that as an art historian, I would have better reasons for wanting to visit Rome, but... pizza... gelato... wow.
Have a great time!
Robyn!!!
I'm so happy! It looks like you had fun. And yeah, the tourism aspect sucks, but it's like hiking the Grand Canyon...you might complain the whole time, but you can always say you did it. And at least you can fend off the people who WOULD have said, "What?! You went to Rome and you didn't see [insert tourist trap here]?!?!"
The McDonald's sign cracks me up. I'm from Arizona, but that doesn't look like any dream I'VE ever had...haha
I think Whole Foods here in the U.S. has pretty durn good gelato - had that? I wonder how it compares to the real stuff in Rome. . . .
Robyn, your photos make me crave GELATO! Smooth, creamy, melting on the tongue...YUUUUMMM!!!
Hope you get to eat more and share more with us envious bloggers! Hehehehe. Thanks for the photo trip to Rome!
Hello! Happened upon your site through cupcakeblog.com. It's so funny because I am obsessed with gelato too. I made a whole video on how to make it the old-fashioned way from a gelateria in Los Angeles. (The guy who owns it is from Rome. He and his wife went back to Italy and learned from this gelato master named Luca Caviezel who published the Art and Science of Artisanal Gelato-Making (in Italian!!)). Yum. I can send it to you later if you want. I did it for the Pasadena Star News back when I was a food writer (The video should still be at www.pasadenastarnews.com/multimedia - you have to go to middle of page for videos and select "Italian for Ice Cream"). I won't eat any other gelato but theirs now - www.bulgarinigelato.com.
ALSO, I went to Laduree in Paris last year and I started making all these noises when I saw your macaroons YUMM!!!! I had a violet macaroon that was such an unbelievable experience. I still think about it from time to time. Light, slightly crisp on the outside, and when you bite into it, the layers explode with flavor and become chewy. I found some in Vegas inside the Bellagio last month but of course not as good :(
I think the Arizona Dream is to have a hamburger named after Arizona in Italy.
And it's totally fine to hike a leg up over gelato!! ^_^
Oh my goodness! The landscape photos are beautiful. The photo of you hugging the gelato cone was hilarious!
I really envy your gelato consumption...I wonder how your body can handle it so gracefully.
I have to agree with you on the comment about the loud, adolescent kids I do (mentally) want to strangle them whenever I'm in the bus or riding in the subway; they tend to talk REALLY loud and/or start cussin' out each other. It's just obnoxious and rude.
oh and because of this post, I have been complaining to all those around me (ok i'm exaggerating) about the lack of gelato-ness in this pathetic town i live in. i take that back. it's the lack of anything TRULY delicious, really. damn.
Wow, I'm jealous :)
pizza + gelato + ancient history (I'm an ancient history student, ie a big Roman history nerd) = excellent
so jealous of your gelato. the closest paris has, which might i add is pretty amazing, is Amorino (think i spelled that right) if you have not already, go there.
you make me want to go back to Italy, for the pizza alone. :)
Loretta: You went to the same gelateria? Cool! It wasn't that busy (the area around it was kinda dead), but there was a little crowd there.
Pizza in NYC, ooh...I haven't been to all the big ones, but I like Otto (West Village), Luzzo's (East Village), Grimaldi's (Brooklyn) and...that's all I can recall right now. I tried Piola once, but didn't like it that much. :\ I'd also like to try Lombardi's, Una Pizza Napoletana, Adrienne's Pizza Bar, and probably a whole bunch of others if I think about it long enough. OH, I also really like Pala (Lower East Side), but it's not uber-thing crust pizza. It's like...bready pizza. OH OH, I also like Sulilvan Street Bakery! okay, I'm donme.
Adalmin: I didn't think about the presence of unitard-wearing people before. But now I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT EM.
The cookie tubes were too brittle for gelato sucking, methinks. I didn't think to try though. [smacks self in forehead]
Jen: Just doin' my job.
Kathy: That's what I figure too!...I mean, I could be addicted to drugs or alcohol but instead I'm addicted to GELATO, which doesn't seem too dangerous. I don't suffer from withdrawal symptoms, I think.
If I were in NYC too then we could've gotten both desserts and shared em! ARGRH! [shakes first]
Marvo: Mm, dry weather sandwich...I have no idea what that would be.
Daisy: OH MY GOD I WANT REST MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!!@#@!#
gagatka: Thanks! If I were in Rome just on vacation, I'd make more of an effort to photograph gelaterias (like what I do with bakeries here, hehehee).
Amy: Ohh, I figured that...[sob]...I WOULD LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to Naples! But just for pizza. Which probably isn't enough to warrant a trip there? :\
Deb: Ah, the pre-sugar-free era must've been a beautiful time. :) I'm glad I could bring back some memories!
I couldn't see famous ruins from my hotel, but maybe that was for the best as I had to stare at them just about whenever I wasn't in the hotel. So many ruins! Oh god!
Jenn: I'm not going to like Ciao Bella or Il Lab as much when I go home. :O Il Lab has great flavors, but the ice cream is too solid. Maybe I should start trying the gelato in Italian bakeries, but I haven't heard many good things about em (depends where ye go, I guess?). Oh, there's a gelateria in Chelsea Market that's not bad. I'll go back there, hehe.
OH OH, can't forget Otto. Their gelato is some of the best stuff I've ever eaten.
Ann: Ohh, I wish I found rose flavor!
embrouillamini: It's not crazy to want to go to Rome primarily for the gelato, is it? Like...nothing else could really pull me back. Not the ruins and whatnot. JUST WANT GELATO. (Okay, the Trevi Fountain is cool too.)
Nico: NONO we have to stop this unitard imagery. It's not healthy.
Teresa: Thanks for reading and un-stalking! :) Cool to hear from another food writer. Maybe you should have a food blog as well? And it sounds like you need to move to another town.
Maria: One cone a day makes sense to me. And I guess i should've tried pasta at least once, but I look at pasta as something I could make (in theory...can't say I actually make it) while pizza is much harder. I'd need a super awesome oven or something. PIZZA IT ISSSS.
Amy: Nooo just food! And shopping for food.
Susannah: Oh noo, you gotta try San Crispino! Now you have a reason to go back. :)
bazu: Oh god, I've become so much more obsessed with taking photos than everrr before. Editing photos unfortunately takes a big chunk out of my blog writing time. If I include how long it takes for me to edit/convert photos, each blog entry takes...way too long...but THAT'S OKAY, I THINK I ENJOY THIS TORTURE, HARHAHRAH [brain fizzles]
Pizza and gelato are where its at. Instant gratification!
Miranda: I guess the touristm thing isn't so bad; it means everyone speaks English. :P And I did most of the touristy stuff (that I doubt I'd do on my own), so yeey!
You totally dream of a McDonald's sandwich, I know it.
Emily: Never tried it! I'll keep that in mind when I go back. (Part of the gelato eating experience for me is getting a paddle of gelato smooshed into a cup in front of you. Actually, that's almost half of the experience for me; I don't buy packaged ice cream. But there are no gelaterias near my house, hehe.)
ablosh: I'm thinking about making a gelato-related t-shirt just to reinforce our obsessions. Like "IT'S ALWAYS TIME FOR GELATO"..and perhaps if enough people wear them, more gelaterias will pop up.
Ivy: Thanks for pointing out the video! For anyone else who may eb reading it, you can watch the video here. (Warning: it makes my browser crash sometimes. Eeek.) Soooo tasty. I think I need a gelato machine.
Violet macaron? Whoaa, I'd totally want that! Too bad the Las Vegas version isn't as good, but I guess that's not too surprising. (They should spend more money on perfecting macarons instead of building bagillion dollars hotels!...yeah!) :(
Albany Jane: The Arizona Dream has been fulfilled! NOW THE INHABITANTS OF ARIZONA CAN REJOICE!
I dunno, I think I'd have to be drunk to do that. ;)
Tina: Ohh, my body is so not handling it gracefully. I feel like I gained 10 pounds in the past few weeks. Surprisingly I was doing alright during the beginning of my stay here. Before I realized that I could eat a baguette every day.
Damn youth...our future is dooomed.
Alexa: Rome is perfect for you!
cookie: I've tried Amorino a few times, but I think the amazing-ness of it depends a lot on what you get. I haven't tried all the flavors yet. Perhaps I should make that my goal? ;) I went to another gelato place last week that I'm excited to write about...once I get around to it...yess.
Awesome post. Great gelato pics... and your pics of all that ancient stuff were great too! That bit about McDonalds was hilarious!! "Arizona Dream" and "Colorado Cheese"? That is seriously what the rest of the world thinks of our country. Hahaha.
LA: It's hilarious to see how our country is seen in other countries. I totally dream of living in a flat, hot, dry expanse with no other humans. (Hey, that's what it looks like in the photo.)
Hi what an awesome post! I was in Florence/Tuscany recently and absolutely fell in love with Italy, and ESPECIALLY the gelato - absolutely amazing and beautiful gelatos on every street corner, I was blown away.
Thank you sooo much for sharing your photos and yummy gelato tasting experiences - i only regret i did not get to sample more gelato before i left!
also, love your photos - just bought the Canon Digital Rebel XTi recently and love it. have you tried the Aperture for Apple program? it is so excellent for photoshopping..you would love it.
Please keep up the posts, they always bring a smile to my face here in Singapore ;-)
Cheryl
Uuuuhhhh, my Rome!!!
Pleased you enjoyed it.
Bye ;)