The Best Foods I Ever Ate, Episode 1

I love food.  Nooooo, you say.

Yes, I swear.  I love food. And National Peanut Butter Lover's Day last week got me to thinking about my favorite foods.  And even more specifically, the best foods I ever ate.

What are the best foods you ever ate?  It's a hard question.  So I decided I was going to explore some of the most memorable tastebud tinglings that I have had the pleasure to enjoy.

We will start with a trip to Florence, Italy.  Florence is a fantastic place.  They have David.  They have beautiful tile roofs.  After an afternoon of sightseeing, climbing to the top of Il Duomo, and viewing the Baptista, you know what would sound good about now?

Ice cream.


The funny thing about food shops in Europe.  You pay extra to sit down.  When you place your order at the counter, you decide if you will take with or if you'll pay a little extra and have a seat.  Now being the the frugal traveler that I am, I seldom went for the seating option.  There were a few exceptions.  Like the time I actually found ice cold Coca Cola in Paris.  I sat down on a park bench so that I could actually concentrate on enjoying that cold Coke.  Granted, that seat didn't cost me a thing. But after sightseeing in Florence, the thing that caught our eye were these incredible ice cream cones we saw coming out of the shop just ahead.  So in we go for some ice cream.  Only in Florence, they don't have ice cream. They have gelato.

Side story:  When I had back surgery, I was given Demerol as a pain killer.  It took excruciating pain away in less than 20 seconds.  It was, I thought, the most remarkable thing ever devised by the human mind.  I was wrong.  So very wrong.

Gelato is like ice cream, only better.  Less fat, less air, more dense, creamy, unbelievable flavor.  I had chocolate.  Plain, ordinary, everyday chocolate.  Only it wasn't.  It was so unlike plain ordinary chocolate that all the chocolate I had ever eaten in my life was ashamed.  We didn't pay extra for the seat.  But after the first bite, we had to sit.  It was the most amazing taste sensation that I have ever experienced.  And so we sat. We sat so we could savor every last bite.  I didn't pay for the seat, but I left a big tip.  I hope my karma remained intact.  And like my experience with the Demerol, now that I'm lactose intolerant, the memory of the gelato is all that I have.