Gelato or Bust

Since it goes without saying that we are making it a priority to sample as much gelato as often as we can, the phrase "gelato or bust" was right up there with "La Dolce Vita" as top contenders for the title of our blog.  For those of you who have never sampled the most amazing ice cream on earth, please, start planning your trip to visit us as soon as possible because you will not be disappointed.  And if you've tried gelato in the US or even elsewhere in Europe, or perhaps the stuff that they sell in supermarket freezers and label gelato, you have tasted only a poor simulation of the real thing, my friend.  No, I'm not exaggerating.  This is ice cream on a whole new level! When we traveled to Italy while living in Germany, we often just skipped lunch and ate gelato instead, and occasionally even made excuses to indulge twice in one day.  It is just that good.

According to wikipedia, the history of gelato dates back to frozen desserts served in ancient Rome and Egypt made from snow and ice brought down from mountaintops and preserved below ground.  How cool is that? Literally!  Even ice cream in Italy is a historical tradition.


Fortunately for us, though perhaps unfortunately for our waistbands, we only have to walk about 50 paces down the street to our local gelatteria.  Almost every night after dinner our children begin their "gelato" chant and it is just so delicious, that it is hard for us to refuse.  And why should we?  La Dolce Vita, indeed!  I believe that after "ciao," "gelato" was Clara's second Italian word.

Hilfer and Frazier girls enjoying frozen treats and gelato cone seats.  The only reason they are drinking smoothies is because they had already had gelato earlier in the day.  My favorite part of this photo is actually Liz posing through the glass in the shop, though it's difficult to see her through the glare.  :)  

Gelato makes our children act very silly.  

 



So as we continue our search for gelato or bust, we will be sure to chronicle our favorite flavors and gelatterias so that we can share them with you when you visit!

Polcenigo, Friuli-Venizia Giulia, Italia

We are very excited to have found a house in the small mountain village of Polcenigo.  We looked at many houses, including one on the outskirts of town with cornfields on one side and a vineyard on the other for "neighbors", and one that was part of an old farm villa that was quite large and backed up to a quiet little chapel, a fresh water spring, and a mountain path but was unfortunately too far from the base, but ultimately decided on this very old home in a little valley.  We're not sure of the actual date, but the old kitchen includes an ancient-looking stone basin sink in the corner.  (That one will probably be the guestroom as thankfully there is a new, updated kitchen upstairs.)  It's connected to another building and it has no yard at all, only a terrace-deck, but it backs up to the river running through the center of town and is only steps away from the piazza (town square), complete with pizzeria and gelatteria less than 20 paces from our front door.  Speaking of the front door, it is one of those big barn door affairs, with a regular sized cut out door in the middle of it.  It looks like the original (OLD) door.  It has three floors and windows overlooking the river on one side and quaint old buildings on the other.  From the terrace you can look up the hillside to the old castle ruins and just a few steps in the other direction takes you to more mountain hiking.  I don't have any of my own pictures to post - hope to remedy that by the end of this week - but if you google "Polcenigo", you'll see the above photograph with the river, and you can read more about the town and the nearby grotto if you wish.  The parking situation, as well as no yard, is one of the negatives - we'll have to park one of our vehicles in the public lot that is just to the right of the bridge that this photo was taken from, a short distance from the house, and we'll need to find a teeny-tiny car to fit in the minuscule garage next to the house.  Not a lot of storage either.  However, Americans lived in this house previously and we've been told by other Americans in the town that it is very safe and they always feel comfortable there.  We decided to make it work for the experience and cultural opportunities - this house definitely felt like the most "authentic Italy" to me.  We can't wait to further explore the area!

Arrivederci, USA!

Goodbye USA, hello Italia!  

Welcome to our blog, where we will record our adventures in Italy and living la dolce vita, "the sweet life, full of pleasure and indulgence." Leaving last week was bittersweet, as saying goodbye to our families and friends was especially difficult knowing how long it might be before we see them again, but we were so excited to begin this new chapter in our life.  Vivian and Clara were thrilled to ride on an airplane and their enthusiasm was only slightly dampened after sitting on the tarmac for an hour before even taking off for our first of three flights - their parents were less than enthusiastic, I assure you. (thank goodness for gadgets is all I have to say about that!)

 However they exceeded our expectations and behaved very well on the planes. Clara was asleep before we even took off on the overnight international flight to Ramstein, Germany and slept most of that flight and the following to Aviano Air Base, Italy. Vivian loved looking out the window and reporting all that she could see.
    We arrived tired but happy to be here, and our fantastic sponsor family, the Fraziers, had everything set and ready to go for our arrival. They took us out for our first pizza dinner that evening and showed us around the areas surrounding Aviano.   More details and pictures to come!