Italy
Sep 26th, 2008
Day 7-8 — Florence
Today’s gelato flavors: Sadly, we haven’t had any yet today, but when we do it will be from the place that we went yesterday, which oh my god, was amazing! So let me tell you about this place: it’s called Grom, and both Rick Steves and Let’s Go call the best place in town. It was only after we got there and I had a look at the place that I realized it’s the same place we went in Milan. The place whose cafe flavor has ruined all other, lesser cafe for me. The flavors are intense. This time I paired it with caramello which tasted like eating a spoonful of caramel with each bite. So why haven’t we gone today? Don’t worry, the day is not over. He only question is, “what will I pair the cafe with tonight.”
If it seems like this blog is focusing on gelato to much, well tough, it’s my blog.
Onward and upward (almost literally). We rolled into Florence around noon yesterday. After situating ourselves in our hotel we headed out for a bit of lunch. About a block down the street from our hotel I’d this charming litle square with about 4 or 5 different cafes. We chose one and had a very nice lunch. I must say that so far, Florence has had the best food of our trip.
So yesterday we did the RS audio renaissance (sp?) walk and then climbed the Duomo to Brunelschi’s dome to take in the view of Florence. All 436 steps of it. Really wasn’t that bad (the climb that is, the view was fantastic). Then we went to dinner, which was great.
Today we went to the Uffizi in the morning, and the Accademia in the afternon and the market between. We had an amazing sandwich, a great pasta, and an impressive salad.
We are back in that square now, but this time at the Irish pub ( there’s one in every city on earth, except for in Ireland, ironically). We are heading across the river for dinner in a bit. And tomorrow we head for Lucca.
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Sep 25th, 2008
Day 4-6 — Venice
“Ahhhhhh Venice” – Indiana Jones
Gelato flavors: Cafe (again) and caramella. Verdict: Even going to the place that Rick Steves mentions as the best in Venice, I still find the cafe flavor a bit of a dissapointment, nothing has matched the cafe gelato in Milan… It is all still very good of course, but still…
Venice is spectacular of course, and spectacularly crowded, and spectacularly easy to get lost in as well, which we did, quite a lot actually. Still, we managed to fit quite a lot in. The Doge’s Palace, The Basilica, The Correr museum… and a whole lot of walking around.
One thing I didn’t find was an open internet connection, so I apologize for the radio silence. I’ve managed to find an open connection in the square a few yards from our very charming hotel here in Florence, however, so I hope to post another update tomorrow. I’ll fill you in on the fantastic gelato coincedence we discovered today.
We have one more day in Florence and then we head for Lucca.
A domanie.
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Sep 21st, 2008
Day 2-3 — Varenna
Todays gelato flavors: cafe & crema for me, whisky and cocunut for Irene.
Review: todays gelato was a reflection of the town in which we got it (Bellagio), lovely to look at, creamy at first, but ultimately a little disappointing. The cafe was by far the weakest to date. The crema was good but couldn’t make up for the lack luster performance of it’s brother. I think Irene was more satisfied with hers. The whiskey flavor was pretty intense, in fact I think she was a little drunk by the time she was done.
The gelato we had in Varenna, on the other hand, was outstanding. The town itself is charming. Not nearly as crowded as it’s ritzy neighbor across the lake, but equally as picturesque. We’ve had a very relaxing day and a half here and should
be well rested for the madness of Venice tomorrow.
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Sep 19th, 2008
Day 1 — Milan
We arrived safely in Milan this morning around 10am after two long flights and an interminable bus ride. Fortunately we had no issues at the airport, which serm to be rare these days.
After dropping off our bags at our hotel we headed out to lunch at a place around the corner. The food was fine but not remarkable.
We then headed to the duomo where we had our first gelato of the trip (that didn’t take to long, did it). I had a cafe and hazelnut cone and Irens had cafe and pistachio. The cafe was the most intensley coffee flavored gelato I’ve ever had. Delicious.
By this then it was time for our appointment to see the Last Supper.
Now we are resting in our hotel room. We’ll probably head out a bit later to take in the sights, but will most likely make an early night of it.
Tomorrow we’ll go to the duomo and then take the noon train to the lake district. That’s all for now.
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Sep 12th, 2008
The Final Countdown
6 days and counting until we leave for Italy. Plans are made, hotels are booked and all that remains to be done is the packing. We are very excited.
I’ll hopefully be posting from the road, so check back often to see where we are and read about our trip.
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