Day #1: We stopped at what turned out to be an expensive gelateria near the train station to get out of the pouring rain that day. We both ordered malaga (rum raisin) but I added fondonte, a dark, rich chocolate, and Brett chose peanut butter with chocolate.
A friend remarked on Facebook the other day that she loved how we had a “sweet tooth in spades” these days. I wrote back that one thing we have enjoyed so much since we started our adventure is how much less sweet bakery items and gelato have been since we left the U.S. Everything from cookies to pastries to pies to gelato seems to have a lot less sugar and fat, and I’m convinced that the reasons Europeans don’t suffer from being overweight like Americans is that a) everyone walks a whole lot more over here; and b) people here eat a whole lot less sugar than we Americans do.
Day #3: We had gelato with limoncello at home for Day #2, but on Halloween we headed to our neighborhood gelateria, Gelatificio Contadino, for some of their special flavors. I ordered egg cream with orange and pumpkin pie for my flavors, and Brett had a “beige” cone: cinnamon cookie crunch and ameretto.
Gelato looks to be very high calorie but actually has less sugar, fat and calories than ice cream. That’s because it’s made with milk versus cream and usually does not contain eggs or other fats, and does not have as much added sugar. Gelato does not have air whipped into it like ice cream does so it stays creamy.
Day #4: We stopped again at La Carraia, rated one of the best gelateria in the city. They have loads of flavors to choose from, and there’s always a crowd there. Brett got chocolate mousse (amazing!) and coffee flavors; I chose walnut & fig and strawberry cheesecake.Day #5: Since we were near the Ponte Vecchio this day we decided to have gelato again at Da Angelo, another highly-rated gelateria. We both got their yummy chestnut flavor, and then Brett added green tea and I had ginger (which had a lovely kick to it).
This week we visited our neighborhood gelateria twice because for us they have the most inventive small batch flavors. We also stopping in at Da Angelo again (over by the Ponte Vecchio) and at La Carraia to try some more of their delicious flavors, and checked out another new stop when we were out. One rainy day we stayed home and didn’t go out at all, but had vanilla gelato in the freezer and topped some of that with creme of limoncello – heavenly!
Day #6: We were back to our neighborhood shop on Sunday. I decided on apple (so, so good!) and pumpkin flower; Brett ordered persimmon cinnamon and Vinsanto cream.Day #7: Brett is on a quest to stop at all of the Top Ten gelateria in Florence, so today we tried Porche no? (Why not?) which has been making gelato in Florence since 1939. Their selection and product did not disappoint: chocolate with peanuts & milk cherry for Brett, eggnog & strawberry mousse for me.
As we did last week, we try to look for new and unusual flavors, but it was a bit more difficult this past week. Brett again did superb work as the hand model.
We’ve been having a lot of fun with it, and it’s something special to look forward to each day. It’s extra calories but we are walking every day and watch what we eat otherwise which so far seems to be keeping our weight in check.
Some shops have about four different chocolate choices – even those are hard to choose! Our biggest “problem,” if you can call it that is what flavors to choose, and which two would be a good balance of flavors. The variety of flavors is amazing though – the gelato makers can be very inventive. We tend now to pass by shops that are only carrying the “standards.” Lots of shops now are doing seasonal flavors, so we are seeing flavors like persimmon (so good), apple, pumpkin and chestnut showing up in more shops right now. Thankfully every shop has always let us sample a few flavors so help us make our choices.
Every flavor looks good. And Brett is doing a great modeling job. š
There was a gelato shop not far from LāAccademia that Rick Steves recommended. We had some time to kill before our timed tickets, so of course we thought of gelato. LOL. It was good, but we didnāt think it was all that and a bag of chips. I think Trip Advisor turned out to be a more reliable indicator. Where do you search for ratings?
Brett Searched for places to go and said the second or third entry was āTop 10 Gelato Stores in Florenceā or something like that – thinks itās a TripAdvisor list, so lots of input. Anyway, we have yet to be disappointed by any of the places on the list! We also have yet to be disappointed by any of the flavors weāve chosen either!
What a fun pursuit, Laura! So much fun to see the daily photos and read the various flavor descriptions. And ‘yeah’ for the caloric offset of walking all over Florence. A win-win all around. š
Ironically, I’m in the midst of giving up sweets, hoping to return to a once a week indulgence come 2019. Still looking for that Smoky Chocolate flavor at Lappert’s Hawaii Ice Cream you once described on your blog!
It has been a lot of fun, and delicious too! We just discovered a new shop this evening – a suggestion from the man in the ticket office at the Pitti Palace. He gave us lots of good tips for finding good gelato versus the industrialized stuff that’s out there for the tourists.
Oh, that smoky chocolate – still the most unusual flavor I’ve ever had, and the most delicious. It was gelato, by the way, so I keep looking for it here, hoping to get lucky.
I’m with you on giving up sweets, at least once our travels stop or at least get out of Italy! Again though I am so glad that things are much less sweet than they are in the States – sometime I think about cookies and candy there and my teeth ache!
The Occasional Nomads 
I am going to follow your example and visit Florence and eat gelatoš
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We’ve been having a lot of fun with it, and it’s something special to look forward to each day. It’s extra calories but we are walking every day and watch what we eat otherwise which so far seems to be keeping our weight in check.
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I typically ALWAYS get chocolate, but I would definitely branch out with all these amazing flavors! Brett has a nice retirement gig lol.
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Some shops have about four different chocolate choices – even those are hard to choose! Our biggest “problem,” if you can call it that is what flavors to choose, and which two would be a good balance of flavors. The variety of flavors is amazing though – the gelato makers can be very inventive. We tend now to pass by shops that are only carrying the “standards.” Lots of shops now are doing seasonal flavors, so we are seeing flavors like persimmon (so good), apple, pumpkin and chestnut showing up in more shops right now. Thankfully every shop has always let us sample a few flavors so help us make our choices.
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Every flavor looks good. And Brett is doing a great modeling job. š
There was a gelato shop not far from LāAccademia that Rick Steves recommended. We had some time to kill before our timed tickets, so of course we thought of gelato. LOL. It was good, but we didnāt think it was all that and a bag of chips. I think Trip Advisor turned out to be a more reliable indicator. Where do you search for ratings?
LikeLike
Brett Searched for places to go and said the second or third entry was āTop 10 Gelato Stores in Florenceā or something like that – thinks itās a TripAdvisor list, so lots of input. Anyway, we have yet to be disappointed by any of the places on the list! We also have yet to be disappointed by any of the flavors weāve chosen either!
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What a fun pursuit, Laura! So much fun to see the daily photos and read the various flavor descriptions. And ‘yeah’ for the caloric offset of walking all over Florence. A win-win all around. š
Ironically, I’m in the midst of giving up sweets, hoping to return to a once a week indulgence come 2019. Still looking for that Smoky Chocolate flavor at Lappert’s Hawaii Ice Cream you once described on your blog!
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It has been a lot of fun, and delicious too! We just discovered a new shop this evening – a suggestion from the man in the ticket office at the Pitti Palace. He gave us lots of good tips for finding good gelato versus the industrialized stuff that’s out there for the tourists.
Oh, that smoky chocolate – still the most unusual flavor I’ve ever had, and the most delicious. It was gelato, by the way, so I keep looking for it here, hoping to get lucky.
I’m with you on giving up sweets, at least once our travels stop or at least get out of Italy! Again though I am so glad that things are much less sweet than they are in the States – sometime I think about cookies and candy there and my teeth ache!
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