44 Euros of Gelato

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Just as the post-Paris depression began to sink in, the best possible medicine arrived in Italy on Friday afternoon. Mom made it to Pisa Airport around noon and I took the train after my class to meet her by 4. No matter how old I get and no matter where I may travel, I know that nothing will ever be as comforting as a hug from my mom after months away from home.

We went searching for the only thing in Pisa that really makes the visit worthwhile and took the obligatory tourist photos below before climbing the very leaning tower for a perfect sunset view.

After a difficult descent, Mom followed my sweet-tooth lead and made her first Italian meal a cup of gelato. We wandered and talked and eventually found some real dinner (which, of course, was not nearly as delicious as its predecessor). With a cup of coffee as a night cap, we made our way back to the hotel and crashed into bed, both exhausted from a whirlwind few days.

Saturday morning we were up and on the train early, arriving in Siena before noon to unload the various American goodies, warm clothes, and cans of Thanksgiving food (she brought yams!!!) before checking Mom into Hotel Villa Elda.

I gave her the grand tour of every important Sienese monument (a feat to which travel guide Rick Steve assigns an entire half of a day) before spending hours wandering side streets, back streets, and unending escalators (?) to find the perfect restaurant. We finally settled on a small little place that offered a special pasta dish with white truffle. After having heard so much about this exorbitantly priced fungi and after having failed to find a truffle festival to attend, we thought it fitting to have our first taste of this extraordinary "tartufo bianco." We ordered an identical menu: ribollita, tagliatelle con tartufo, and caffe americano. The ribollita was the perfect way to warm up from the cold, rainy night and the caffe was delicious. The truffle? It was good, but neither of us collapsed in food ecstacy as we had expected.

Earlier in the day we had discovered that my favorite Gelateria (the one with the melt-in-your-mouth, perfectly-prepared and absolutely unmatched tiramisu) was actually open until the 9th of November (originally I had been told it closed on the 1st). Naturally, I had to introduce Mom to my past month's obsession and I have since converted her into a true believer.

We planned on waking early for the 8am mass before getting to Pianella for a bruschetta festival, but the torrential downpour convinced us to sleep in. At 11, my mom experienced her first mass in Siena and I experienced my first mass in the actual Duomo. The entire floor of the cathedral is only exposed for a little over one month every year which is why we've been in the smaller chapel until now. The Duomo is certainly a more striking building in which to experience the mass.

Though I warned her that walking the hilly, cobblestone streets required comfortable footwear, the shoes Mom insisted were comfortable at home made her miserable after only one day of trekking through Siena. Consequently, we spent the morning shopping and finally found a pair of cute, low boots and celebrated with a great cup of coffee and some veggie-packed pizza.

At 7:00, my entire apartment met Mom for dinner at the restaurant San Desiderio. Feeling adventurous, I ordered pasta with wild boar, though all six of us tried every other dish on the table. Everything was delicious and everyone was full, but we could not resist one last night at our favorite Gelateria. After Samanta taught us how to "dine and ditch" Italian style (as the owner listened in) and after the waiter delivered a shot of limoncello to my mom, we wandered back to the Campo where I got my usual chocolate mousse and tiramisu cone. Before leaving, Samanta asked the servers what happened to the leftover gelato and was told that it would be thrown out. The owner, recognizing us as some of her best customers, then packed up four large containers with our favorite flavors. We now have 44 euros worth of free gelato in our freezer-- my guess is it won't make it past Friday.

As I walked with my mom through the Campo she linked arms with me and told me how happy she was that I had gotten so lucky with my roomates-- it is easy to see how well we mesh and she was absolutely right. After all, how many apartments in Tuscany have freezers chock-full of gelato?