Okay so I'm in Florence and I'm tired so this will be short but I can't go to bed without blogging my story of the day.
We got off the ship early this morning and headed straight for the train. We arrived in Florence early this afternoon and have spent a marvelous day seeing the city. Florence is everything everyone says it is and cannot dissappoint even the most difficult to please. It's just a joy to be here. It's much calmer and quieter than the other cities I've been to in Italy (or elsewhere for that matter) and the Florencians seem to take a special pride in their city and in sharing it with others. However, all is not perfect here in Firenze, let me tell you what happened today.
We decided to do a historical walk through the city (thanks to our handy guide book) and ended up at a beautiful piazza. Well, you can't sit in a piazza without some Gelato and since Florence in the Gelato capitol of the world we figured we had no choice but to get some. We found a nice shop and headed inside. Usually I get a little cup of it but I decided to go big and get it in a cone today. So, I picked my flavors and told the lady that I would like a cone. She pointed to the tiny McDonalds cones that I hate and I motioned to the normal cones instead. She looked at me like "are you sure?" and I ignored the look and nodded yes. This is one of those times speaking the language would really come in handy.
I kind of stopped paying attention until she handed me the cone and then I had no choice but to take it. The cone was not normal size as I had originally thought, it only looked that way because 3 feet of it was hidden when I chose it. The cone was GIGANTIC and she filled it so high I could barely even see over it to get to the cash register. At first I thought this was somewhat humorous and then I had to pay. "12 Euro please." I'm sorry, what? 12 Euro for gelato? That's almost 20 bucks! You know, I looked around and there was no listing of prices anywhere and I have noticed that happens a lot in Europe. We never have any idea what we are getting or how much it is going to cost and all we can do is point to something and hope for the best. I often end up getting something I didn't really want all because I have no idea how to get what I do. Whatever. Anyway, I didn't want to look like I had made a mistake and at that point there wasn't anything that could be done anyway so I just forked over the money, grabbed a spoon and headed for the door not exactly sure what had just happened.
Well, I get out into the piazza and see hundreds of people with gelato in NORMAL SIZED CONES exactly the way I had wanted it, and here I am trying to balance a gallon of ice cream in my hand. Why me? I tried to forget about the money I just spent and enjoy the stupid ice cream but after a few bites I was pretty much done. Done? I just spent 12 Euro on this and there was no way I was going to throw it away. Since you can't save ice cream for later I had to dig in and stuff it all down. I am sure that I epitomed the gluttonous American Europeans love to look down upon as I sat there gorging myself on an oversized portion of their delicate and dainty gelato but what was I supposed to do? I even had to use a big spoon instead of their little ones because it was melting too fast to eat slow. Maybe some of those staring should have come helped me out.
You would think after getting down to the cone I could call it quits for a job well done but nooooo not me, I had to shove the entire 5 ft cone down too. The cone was the instigator of all of this in the first place-I wasn't going to let him get off scott free! I felt ridiculously ill when I finished but I ate every last bite. I actually got a round of applause from the crowd that had gathered to watch the American pig stuff her face and someone even wanted to take a picture with me.
All in all it was a great experience, something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I could barely even focus on the amazing Uffizi art gallery we saw afterwards because of how sick I felt. However, I must say the gelato was amazing even though my stomach still hurts.
It's a little ironic that this morning as I left the ship I thought about how nice it would be not to have to eat so much food anymore because I was tired of feeling so full all the time. I guess I wasn't done eating yet. Who knows, maybe there is still an all you can eat buffet in my future.
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5 comments:
This reminds me of the day you brought back your dad's oversized silk pajamas that were mistakenly made in giant size. I think you have a knack for this sort of mishap... Good job on eating it all though. That must have been hard work, and twnety bucks is a lot of money. funny. very funy.
Hey Monique,
There is a truck stop in Buellton,
Ca. that boasts one trucker's feat of consuming 13 bowls of split pea soup. It is a local legend.
I think Firenze has been waiting for centuries for you to come along.When you return for another adventure in the future, don't be surprised if your picture is on the wall..."we got a winner!"
Enjoy this Renaissance town...it's
one of my favorite...it's a city where love is in the air...,so enjoy! Aunt Patti
Hey Mo...love hearing about your adventures. I'm getting excited for you to come to the Rovo. So...Michelle is in for the cruise, but Patty bailed. We have one more spot. I thought I would ask you if you knew of someone before I invited someone else. If not, I can for sure think of some other people (who are very cool, I might add).
If I had to guess which of the 5 of us girls would one day tell the story of eating a gallon of ice cream and 5 ft cone in one sitting it would not have been you. Kudos to you for finishing it all. It is quite an accomplishment! I'm glad that you are having a good time. I love you and can't wait to see pictures of this all!
As a side note... Kaden LOVES his calendar from Alaska. We "read" it at least 20 times a day!
I didn't think you had it in you. I'm proud of you Moniek.
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