Vivoli + Sunday

Saturday night, walking home, I stopped at Vivoli to sample the gelato there. For those of you who haven't heard of it, Vivoli is supposedly the most famous gelateria in the world, but in recent years, popular opinion has held that it's been trading mostly on reputation. I of course, had to verify this for myself. I got two flavors that night for euro 2.50, which is a little more, but not much more expensive, than at a standard place. The flavors were 'arranciato e ciocciolato' (chocolate-orange) and 'riso' (rice). It was good. Very good. Perhaps not as good as Grom (my gold standard so far) but very, very good. Also, as someone who is somewhat of a devotee/connoiseur of rice pudding, let me tell you, Italy is paradise. Beside the paste called budino di riso, almost every gelateria has riso as a flavor, and I of course, get it nearly every time. Recall the Stuff White People Like entry on Study Abroad: "You acquired a taste for something (local food, beer, fruit). This latter point is important because you will need to be able to tell everyone how it is unavailable in your current country." This is totally going to be me about riso gelato upon my return. I am apologizing now.

Sunday, Sunday, shameless Shun-Day... What to say, what to say. Well, as most lazy Sunday mornings go, I didn't manage to get out of the house until noon, and then the café I was supposed to hole up in for the day ended up being closed, so I'm at another place near Santa Croce called "La Luna Rossa" (The Red Moon), surrounded by a wide range of Italian men watching the Fiorentina-Bologna football game. After nearly four hours (good lord) updating this blog, I have to go do real work now. Sweet.