The best gelato in Italy

You can tell my priorities in life by the title of this blog. I have seen some of the most treasured monuments in Italy and the first thing to come to my mind is the dessert. But more on that later, first I would like to tell you that walking in Rome is like walking back in time (sans the constant hum of traffic punctuated by the sharp acoustic of sirens). Yesterday was our first full day in Rome, and we got to see some of the most fantastical sites most never get to see.

We started off the day with a tour of ancient Rome. It was one of the best things that I have done in my life and I really can't believe some of the things I got to learn about.

We started of in a square that looked plain enough. When the tour started, I learned that the square was the same shape as it was during the renaissance and that the buildings have changed around it, but the shape has remained the same (it was buit as a running track to train Olympians). It's a feeling I can't really explain when you are walking in the footsteps of thousands of years of history. I feel like tip-toeing to not disturb the greatness of it all. At the squares center was Bernini's Fontana Dei Quattro (the four rivers). Now, I have never been one to claim I have an affinity for art or even that I have ever truly apprieciated the subtley of it; basically, if it's pretty, I like it. This fountain was magnificent in it's detail. Each of the rivers were represented by a man, one for each major river on each of the known continents at the time. The American "river" (or man) was sitting on a cactus; the Indian "river" that was shielding it's eyes from the church built by Bernini's rival; the European "river" with horses underneath him... and this was just the start of the tour. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which has the same drainage system that it did when it was first erected as a pagan church in 120 AD. The reason for the drainage system? The enormous occulous in the middle of the dome, that is still open to the elements. To pay homage to this dome Michelangelo constructed St. Peter's Basilica 1 meter smaller so that The Pantheon would remain the largest dome in the world.

The next stop was the Trevi Foutain. It can be heard before it is seen which adds to the experience meant by the creator in 1697. I threw 3 coins in: the first to come back to Rome, the second to fall in love with a Roman, and the third to marry a Roman. We ended at the Coloseum, just after walking through the squares created by Cesar and the victory arches created by the emperor who conquered Jeruselem (with the only evidence of the famous golden menora that has never been found). The menora is depicted on the triumph arch carried by the slaves of war. Needless to say, the tour was fantastic and had a way of making me feel so small in the world (in the best way). We ended the day with the best spaghetti I have ever had. I could elaborate on the spaghetti, but I couldn't begin to explain the deliciousness so I will move on.

Today, we toured the Vatican. The history was amazing, once again, and made me really appreciate art in a way that I never thought I could. Michelangelo's masterpiece has such subtleties beneath it's greatness, that it would appeal to even the most unpoetic of souls. "The Creation of Adam" is the painting of God touching fingers with Adam. I have seen it 10000 times, but I never saw the eggplant purple surrounding the depiction of god, or the green scarf flowing down from the heavens. I will never be a art conoseur or any sort of historian, but I cannot help being awed by the complex and yet simple beauty of the timeless ceiling. And after that, my feet hurt... really bad. So gelato was necessary; don't bother finding the connection between ailment of the feet and ice cream. If you had been there you would have got it.

This gelato... Deserves a shrine of it's own. In fact, I'm not sure why Michelangelo didn't include it somewhere among the religious hooha. I called Ashlee to see where the place was and finally found it. I ordered coffee and chocolate, and I count this as one of the best decisions of my life. I don't know if you get where I'm going with this, but it was damn good gelato. Not to mention the canolies... And yes I had both... And I believe we are going back tomorrow, where I will, again, order both.

Tonight, we are going to try to go out to a discoteca... I, however, am running out of clothes. I must go decide on which over-worn dress to wear and stuff my still sore feet in some heels. I love you all and I miss you! Arrivederci!