4 days, 2 people … 20 scoops of gelato

don't feel too bad for us. we've had some fun in the past week. fun which included lots of gelati.

after a full day in milan with zero gelato (shops appear to close early, like 9:30P), we went on a mission to find some. and made sure not to pass up any promising-looking shops, just in case they'd be closed later.

first stop, gelateria marghera, only a few blocks from our hotel. we had some chocolate and strawberry. delicious. and they had other pretty frozen desserts too, but figured it'd be too much for breakfast.



then after lunch and walking around some, we came across bottega del gelato, just off corso buenos aires, south of loreto station. it looked like their specialty is gelato stuffed back into the fruit skins (you can kind of see the stuffed limes behind my right shoulder). we just went with the straight gelato: banana, strawberry and kiwi. again, delicious.



then further down corso buenos aires, there was one of grom's locations in milan. i had already hit my gelato quota for the day, but someone else went for some more. crema and nougat. ok, i stole a few licks. yummy.



the next day, we took the train to venezia/venice. we found a spot for lunch and enjoyed the sun. and then realized we had not had any venetian gelato on that fine day yet. so we walked along the main road and picked a gelato shop. stracciatella, ciocolato, and variegato nocciola. boo, big thumbs down. it tasted kind of weird and there was lots of air turned into it. that was the last poor gelato for me. no more choosing just any shop. unfortunately, a shop we wanted to visit to make up for that mishap was closed.



the next day, we took the train to sarmeola, a small town in the munipality of rubano, in the province of padova. i repeat, small town. the only attraction there was a family-owned compound consisting of a hotel, a restaurant, a bar restaurant, and a shop. at the bar restaurant, we found delicious (and the cheapest!) gelato in all the land. pistachio was my first choice. so creamy, so true in flavor.



aj followed that up with a scoop of crema (custard with a hint of vanilla). mmm, why can't all gelati be this good?



the next morning, after breakfast, we had to have one last scoop. chocolate.



later that afternoon, we found our way back to venezia. and the shop we were looking for the other day was finally open! aj got some fruit-flavored one (apple?) and i got zenzero (ginger). icy but nice clean flavors. i really liked the ginger.



aj liked it so much, he went back for a third scoop. coffee.



we walked around the rest of the evening, and capped it off with two scoops of artisanal gelati: lemon and milk. so good. oh wait, now that i'm recounting it, aj definitely went back for another cone. what was the flavor?



and the next morning, while waiting at the airport gate for our flight to barcelona, aj walks over with a scoop of pineapple sorbet. pretty decent. but mental note, sorbets should be eaten in a cup, not a cone.