Ten - Gelato

First, I must say that this top ten listing will by no means be in David Letterman order. It's impossible to really order my favorite moments of Italy, because it's beyond hard to pick just ten to begin with. OK, so without further ado . . .

Because of all the hype about the gelato before I even left for Italy, I've got to say, I was a little nervous to actually try it when we got to Venice. What if it wasn't as good as I'd been anticipating? My friend Laura had actually promised "the gelato will change your life." That's a lot for a little scoop of ice cream to live up to. I though it might be like a movie that you hear is sooooooo good, but you wait to see it until it's been out for awhile. By the time you go see it, you're so excited that it's inevitable that you'll be disappointed, because even if the movie is good, it can't be THAT good. Does that make any sense?

Oh, my friends, how foolish I was to doubt the power of Italian ice cream. One lick of my coconut gelato and I was hooked. Change my life it did. I had another scoop later that same day. It started a trend of always having gelato at LEAST once a day (and I came home the same weight thanks to all the walking, thank you very much!) and sometimes more. Even after a yummy Italian meal that left me so stuffed I felt like all I needed was a nap and I'd be reenacting my yearly Thanksgiving experience, I was always the first one to say, "There's always room for gelato!"

You may say you're an ice cream lover, but you will never really know until you've stopped by a few gelaterias in Italia. Oh, and if you've tried gelato at a place that claims to serve it in the US, I'm sorry, but you've been tricked. It is not the same. At all. I suggest you book a plane ticket now and try the real deal. Some of my favorite flavors? Coconut (particularly from Blue Ice in Rome . . . SOOOOO amazing, and thanks for the tip Crystal B!) pistachio (thought I'd died and gone to heaven), chocolate, melon (tastes like cantaloupe . . . no REALLY it tastes like cantaloupe), caramel (this place by our hotel in Florence had the yummiest one, it was almost all cream with soft caramel drenching the top), peach, banana, strawberry, & chocolate chip. I've got to say that probably the thing I've missed most about Italy since returning home is the gelato. My heart yearns for it!