GELATO

Gelato is everyone's favorite Italian treat, Italians included. A favorite gelateria of ours is Alberto Pica, also known as Bar Pica, just off the busy Via Arenula near the Roman ghetto.

Gelato comes in many flavors both common and unusual,expect to find chocolate (ciocolato),vanilla (vaniglia) strawberry(fragola) and chocolate chip (stracciatella), but also look for and try something new. The flavors are all well marked in Italian, often with a small illustration for a clue....so, order with your best Italian!

One our favorites here at Bar Pica is the riso gelato which is like a frozen creamy rice pudding,the riso cannella has cinnamon added, this is true 'comfort food'!

Take note, before getting too wrapped up in choosing flavors, be sure to go over to the cashier ( la cassa) and pay, then take the receipt to the gelato counter to make your selection.

A new and welcome addition to our list is Gelateria Della Palma, not far from the Pantheon on the Via della Maddalena. Here there is a very long counter with too many flavors to count. We understand that they offer 20 different variations on chocolate alone. Some of the colors at one end of the counter are a bit bright and garish, we tend to stay away from those, but the group of Italian school children that were there seemed to love them! The reason Della Palma is so good is the gelato mousse,it is heavenly ! This is an extra creamy and silky gelato that is not found in most places. The gelato mousse can be had only in a cup (cuppa) and not a cone (cona), it is too soft.

Even in a small cup up to three flavors can be sampled, since we only allow ourselves a few gelato indulgences on our visits it will take a life time to sample all the flavors we would like.

There is always la prossima volta, the next time!