Gelato Festival

Memorial Day weekend for all of you in the states was for us in Florence: a 4 day Gelato Festival. Which means tents were set up in most of the main piazzas in Florence and we made daily walks to visit the numerous vendors stationed under each tent.

There were videos and how-we-make-it lectures, kiddie areas and crafts and most importantly: a whole lot of gelato. Our goal was simple: try as many flavors as we could stomach.

We bought little 'tickets' and handed them in for little bowls of tasteful delight. In no particular order, and hoping I don't forget any, we tried:

1. lime
2. strawberry
3. biscotti
4. cookies
5. creme caramel (tasted like creme brulee)
6. melon (cantelope)
7. lemon (always a winner!)
8. cream
9. cheesecake (we added some strawberry and 'complimentary' whipped cream... yum!)
10. cuban (chocolate, rum, cherries)
11. a combo of caramel, cookies, sambuca, cream (cannot remember name)
12. strawberry shortcake (for lack of a better name)
13. strattiatella (think vanilla with bits of chocolate, a long time fave of the boys)
14. pear and pecorino
15. pine nut
16. macadamia nut
17. orange and cream
18. nutella
19. raspberries and cream
20. mint

And I am sure I am forgetting some. Of interest: one vendor (each vendor typically served 5 or so flavors) had 5 chocolate gelatos, from chocolate around the world (think costa rica, venezuala, etc.). Another: I confess the pear and pecorino were as far as I ventured into savory, I forgot to try the 'riso' which is rice/risotto and deliberately avoided the funghi (mushroom!).

To this day, my favorite gelato is still honey (not to be found at the festival); I enjoyed it at an artisan shop while we were hiking in Cinque Terre. Though the cuban chocolate, melon and strawberry---oh, and creme caramel---were fantastic. No doubt I will be picking up a book on gelato-making when we hit stateside.

frolicking friday fotos: light

Candles in church in Venice, Italy.

I love the actionable event of lighting a candle; sometimes a prayer and a candle is all we can do.

If you post a frolicking friday foto, please drop the link in the comments, below.

Top 5 for February

As I have been forced to write the top five for February and March, I give to you today the top 5 for February! These are listed in no particular order; although my favorite is Elba. Other than the Chocolate Festival, my top memories from February were all from our Tuscan road trip (proudly promoted in previous posts---wasn't that was a tongue twister?). Anyways, here are my top five:

1. The Chocolate Festival was the most amazing assortment of delicious treats I have ever tasted. The shapes varied from sunny side up eggs, soccer cleats and rusty-looking wrenches to fruit engulfed in quick drying liquid chocolate! We enjoyed these chocolaty wonders by spending more than €20 ($30)!

2. The Medici Fortress of Poggio a Caiano was one of the minor villas of the Medici, but it was like a wonderland. The Italians don't know how lucky they are to have families that have past down villas that nowadays cost well over a million dollars.

3. The mineral-infested city of Rio Marina: If I'm rich one day (who doesn't dream for that?), I would buy a house there. The city of Rio Marina is so abundant with minerals (specifically Hematite) that the gravel in the park is partly made of crushed minerals. The beach is made of sparkling black particles from the eroded mineral, and the mountainsides are a rich red soil 'growing zone' for the minerals (it takes more than a million years for some minerals to evolve).

4. The San Filippo Hot Springs of the Maremma region are unique. The steaming hot mountain side is a distilled white from large amounts of calcium, forming in horizontal layers to rounded pools.

5. The Saturnia Hot Springs. A five star hotel could be formed around this original, yet luxurious destination. I suggest this as the one must-see/bathe destination if you go to a sulfur bath and/or through Maremma.

I'll give you the top 5 for march sometime soon.

Bye!