Things to do in the rain

Not to say that we Northwesterners don't know how to deal with rain, but I don't think any of us were really expecting the same kind of weather here in generally "sunny ol' Italy" that we were having when we left the states. In fact it has been rainy everyday and thunderstormy most days. Puts a little damper on sightseeing and garden picnicking plans. However, while there are plenty of churches and museums which could get us out of the rain they were even more packed than usual with hordes of damp tourists and that just didn't sound too nice either. So we decided on grabbing umbrellas and braving some water.

Yesterday was just an orientation day but we actually got some pretty great information regarding the city. Like this useful info- How to Find Good Gelato- yes it's everywhere and I'm sure none of it is Bad but some is much more authentic and delicious than others so here are things to know: don't buy it near tourist attractions- it's overpriced and not authentic, brightly colored means it's fakely colored, never pay more than 1- 3 euro for gelato (the cheapest stuff is usually the most authentic), and it should never be mounded up in a pile over the top of the container because real gelato will melt. If it's not melting it's not right. It should be level or lower than the top of the container it is being displayed in. Well we found a place that met this criteria and lo and behold it was AMAZING. When I tried mine I nearly married the little old man serving it to us. I then had to go around and try everyone else's. My peach and strawberry flavors though were to. die. for. Holy cow. The peach tasted like the best peaches you've ever had but multiplied by heaven.

We then found our way to a wine shop where you can bring old wine bottles and have them filled for a fraction of the price of a bottle of wine, a chocolate shop owned by one of the most famous chocolatiers in the world and a produce market that has the most beautiful fresh produce I've seen. I left the happy owner of grapes the size of golf balls and a giant yellow pepper probably twice as big as any I've ever seen for only 80 cents. Lovely. Now to make some pesto gnocchi, salad with fresh ingredients from the market this morning, caprese salad, wine, fresh bread... etc. :)