Gelato: a +3 vorpal ice cream.

If you go to Italy and the only thing you do is get off the plane, eat gelato and go home, it would still be well worth the trip.  Gelato isn't just "Italian ice cream."  No, sir.  It's so much more than that.  Well, not physically.  It is Italian ice cream, but they do it right!  It's legit.  I don't know if they use forbidden alchemy or some secret ingredient or maybe they just add love to their recipe, but whatever they do they make it better than anything I've encountered in the States. 

             Mmmm....look at all those lovely flavors.  I don't know what they are, but I wanna eat it!

How does one describe the sensation of texture and taste that make up gelato?  "It's like eating silk at a fresh mountain spring."  Okay, that was lame.  Let's try "it's just that ______ awesome!"  Maybe that comes closer. You be the judge.  Either way gelato is smoother and more flavorful than American ice cream.  Sure, you can get "gelato" in the states, but every place I've been to just isn't the same.

When I taste mango gelato for example, it's like eating a cold, cream covered mango. When I have the chocolate its like I've never tasted chocolate before.

And what flavors the have!  I was wandering around Rome one Saturday as was my custom and I happened upon the Pantheon.  The piazza in front of the Pantheon is very cool, but there's not much there.  So I wandered down the road that was to the right of the Pantheon (facing it) and walked down into a narrow street.  This street had all kinds of stores, most I didn't care about or didn't have money for, but then I spotted a gelataria.  It wasn't just a gelato store, those are all over the place.  No, this had, literally, wall to wall flavors of gelato all organized by catagories. There was the fruit section with every fruit and mix of fruit imaginable.  There was the chocolate section with ever type of chocolate ever conceived of by the minds of men, the natural flavor section such as nuts, milk, honey, etc and a coffee section. 

I got a milk, honey and German dark chocolate cone.  There's something innocent and pure about just enjoying an ice cream cone, like you're a little kid again. But also, there's something more to it because this isn’t just an ice cream cone.  It's something that would make a cynical food critique shed tears of joy. 

How to find good gelato:

Generally, the further away you get from the major tourist sights, the better.  If you can see a crowd of people with fanny packs and cameras, keep going. 

There are more scientific ways.  One, look at the containers.  If they're plastic, keep walking.  If they're metal, move to step two.  Look for the banana flavor.  If the banana is yellow, that means its fake and not worth your time.  If it's grey, you are golden and probably a rock star.  So, in short, metal containers and natural grey coloring for the banana.  You find those and you'll be a happy homo sapien.

                                                  See the bright yellow?  That's a 'no-go.' 

How to enjoy gelato:

Don't rush it. (same could be said with any experience in Italy.)  Take your time.  Stop, find a good place to watch the crowds of people walk buy, maybe something cool to look at like the duomo in Florence and enjoy the moment.  Soak it in for everything that it's worth.  Remember that moment of simply joy and you'll be on your way to experiencing Italy as it should be experienced.