I have had five flavors of ice cream today. Wow. That’s a lot of ice cream. Even for me. In my defense it was in two separate sittings, so it wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds, although its still pretty bad.
The first was at Gelateria della Palma, which is over by the Pantheon. It was my afternoon off. So I had decided to hit another stop on my gelati world tour. I have written down the most intriguing gelaterias listed in our many guidebooks and made myself a little checklist. So far I have been to two of them.
So, back to Gelateria della Palma. They had an enormous number of flavors. They put Baskin Robbins to shame. You can get two flavors for 2 Euro or three flavors for 2.50. The sizes go up from there. I think the largest was 5 flavors for 6 euro. But that seems like too much ice cream to me. After careful consideration I decided three flavors for 2.50 was the better deal, so I went with that. I gave my ticket to the man behind the counter and then I kind of froze up while I was selecting my flavors. So I ended up with pineapple (which was really good), strawberry and chocolate with cinnamon. The chocolate didn’t really complement the other two very well but all three flavors were really good.
I have a couple different strategies for choosing gelati flavors. The first is to choose a “base”flavor like some kind of chocolate or white chocolate or vanilla, and then choose a second flavor to complement it. My other strategy is to just choose the colors that will look prettiest together in the dish. I sometimes get some odd combinations that way. And I never, ever get just one scoop.
My real mission while I was out today was to see the Caravaggio frescoes in St. Luigi. But it was closed for siesta when I got there, so I wandered over to Piazza Navona. The piazza was full of street vendors selling art. Some of it was very nice. There were lots of the kinds of watercolors I like that Tom hates. Scenes of the Spanish steps and things like that. It was sunny and warm and the café tables were full of people. It was one of those moments that makes you stop and say to yourself, “holy cow, I’m in Italy”. Although I admit the busker playing “Stairway to Heaven”kind of spoiled the mood.
At about 3:40 I went back to St. Luigi. It was supposed to reopen at 3:30 but it was still locked up tight as a drum. I waited around for a while, and then gave up. I will have to try again another day. Maybe I’ll try to go in the morning next time.
On my way home I stopped in some shops specializing in Murano glassware. Shops where I can’t possibly take the children for what should be obvious reasons. I saw a lot of really beautiful jewelry, pendants and earrings and whatnot. It was enough to inspire me to accessorize more. There were also some amazing chandeliers. Which reminds me, I must tell Tom I have some Ideas for redecorating the dining room.
Once I was back in our neighborhood I discovered a shop that sells roasted chickens. This could come in handy. I love roast chicken.The second gelato stop was after dinner with the kids. We went to Blue Ice in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. I went with the color coordination strategy this time and had wild cherry and coconut. Delicious.
Posted by goitaly 
