Thursday, March 20, 2008

Gelato Non-Trivia - The Real Best Gelateria in Rome

Piazza della Rotonda, Rome

The big domed building here is the Pantheon, which forms the southern side the Piazza della Rotonda in Rome.

It was constructed on the site by the emperor Hadrian in 118 AD, and was so named as it was dedicated to all the gods. Its dome was the largest in the world (with a diametre of 142 feet) ...



... till 1436, with the completion of the one crowning the Dumo in Florence.



Marcus Agrippa, the emperor Augustus's son-in-law, had founded the first Roman temple on the site in 27 BC - one dedicated to Venus and Mars. This building had subsequently been raised by fire.

But cutting to the chase, guys ... the arrow on the opening google-eyed view of the piazza locates the cafe with absolutely the very best gelato on the entire planet. There is a vicious rumour that is the best gelateria in the city is the Giolitti, founded in 1800 - propaganda no doubt put out by the current owners or their co-conspirators. But here is a photo of the real best gelateria - arrowed.

Gelato Heaven, Piazza della Rotunda

Given this vital bit of gelato-straightening-out tourist-ese, you'd need to live in the Piazza della Rotonda for easy access. The absolutely charming old-style hotel below is only 50 metres away - I'm hunting down its name ... next post! Always wanted to stay there.


BTW, the best flavour on offer at the gelateria (only in my opinion, of course) is nocciola or hazelnut. And you gotta have the 20 Euro big big serve - you'll hate yourself if you go cheap and have anything less.

So armed with all this vital info, your next visit to the eternal city can be the perfect well-rounded experience you've constantly dreamt of!
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11 comments:

  1. gay jerkerMarch 20, 2008 at 8:15 AM

    Hi Nick!!
    I'm from Rome!!
    Did U like it???
    R U here??
    Do U know the hole in the top of Pantheon's dome is completely open? No glass, nor plastic, of course!! When it rains, it rains inside!!

    1kiss and enjoy it!!

    gj

    Sorry, I must correct U: Piazza della RotOnda, nOcciola

    ReplyDelete
  2. nickwallacesmithMarch 20, 2008 at 8:36 AM

    hey gj - great you are in rome! only visit from time to time, sadly - not enough times tho! one of my absolutely most favorite cities in the world - really. kiss back with a hug's interest. yep, i knew the (it has a special architectural name which i can't for the moment remember) is open to the sky. and knew that the bronze casing inside the dome was removed to create the baldacchino in st peters. thanks for the spell check - really appreciated. so are you an ex-pat or a roman?

    ReplyDelete
  3. VictorMarch 20, 2008 at 2:53 PM

    you left out the most imoprtant detail. who is the gorgeous man in the photo?

    ReplyDelete
  4. gay jerkerMarch 20, 2008 at 4:30 PM

    I was born in Rome and I live there!
    We have a proverb, in roman jargoon: "Chi va a Roma e nun vede la Rotonna, asino va e asino ritonna!!"
    ("Who goes to Rome and doesn't see the Rotonda," ie th Pantheon, or la rotonda, the round building "is an ass (the animal, OF COURSE!!!) when he arrives and he's an ass when he goes back home!"

    Happy, my friend!! U'R not an ass!!
    ;-))

    great kiss!!

    gj

    ReplyDelete
  5. LorenzoMarch 20, 2008 at 5:29 PM

    Hi, I'm frome rome too...
    whose the best gelato in rome? That's a nasty issue indeed. You're right about giolitti, but there are many different places elsewhere..

    A purple patch about piazza della minerva's obelisk:
    it was found in the 1630s, in a convent's orchard. It was half-buried, and only three faces were exposed. Some Jesuit sent a copy of the visible faces to the infamous Athanasius Kircher, who wasn't in rome at the time. And he answered with a letter, in which he exactly guessed the content of the fourth one. A few centuries before Champoillon... ahhh, baroque!

    I really love the blended character of this blog. Thank you!

    lorenzo86

    ReplyDelete
  6. nickwallacesmithMarch 20, 2008 at 10:18 PM

    hey victor, i took the pic from the net - but i reckon he is a gay guy - just the way he holds his lips!

    ReplyDelete
  7. nickwallacesmithMarch 20, 2008 at 10:34 PM

    hey gj - my first serious boyfriend was from Catania in Sicily and he had a Roman nose (straight from the forehead - no bridge) - Andrea. i did a post of his lips - 'first kiss' 21 jan 08. he was born there but migrated here as a kid. my fav part of the city is between the Pantheon and Ponte San Angelo. where are you in the city? i'm sure i'm an ass some of the time but thanks for the support, my friend! big big kiss

    ReplyDelete
  8. nickwallacesmithMarch 21, 2008 at 3:22 AM

    my secret semiotic - i have been unmasked me! so now it is out, how bout you?! i assumed you were out of the centre - it's so expensive there - only for tourists, sadly :< - are you very fat out?

    ReplyDelete
  9. nickwallacesmithMarch 21, 2008 at 11:49 PM

    hey lorenzo86! great to hear from another roman! still trying to track down the name of the gelateria - it's pointed out as you

    ReplyDelete
  10. gay jerkerMarch 22, 2008 at 7:05 AM

    My comment was too hot!?
    I apologize!!
    SORRY!!

    1kiss!!

    gj

    ReplyDelete
  11. nickwallacesmithMarch 22, 2008 at 7:40 AM

    my spelling - meant to be 'are you very faR out? - from the centre of rome? your comments are always cool and hot in the best possible way. an enormous kiss my friend! nick

    ReplyDelete

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