Florence Gelato Festival

Pop Quiz:  What is better than enjoying gelato? 

Answer:  Enjoying a lot of gelato!

The 2017 Gelato Festival has returned to Florence. 

You might remember an earlier blog post about the Gelato Festival.  The Festival started in Florence in April and then toured Italy and elsewhere in Europe, with stops in Rome, Turin, Milan, London, Warsaw and Hamburg.

The best of the best, or the crème de la crème, were invited to the finale here in Florence, where they compete to be the European champion.   

Last weekend, we attended the Finale, which is a large affair, with many tasting stations, a school and a laboratory. 

The atmosphere was festive, with kids of all ages receiving balloons. 

We enjoyed many samples of delicious gelato.  Some were traditional and others were exotic. 

One flavor that Greg especially enjoyed was Wild Cherry. 

Another flavor we enjoyed was a fresh cheese gelato with a twist. 

In the photos below, the gelato maker Carmelo adds shaved chocolate to the gelato and then adds something else.  Check it out. 

That's right.  Carmelo spritzed the gelato with perfume.  Not to worry, the perfume is natural and edible. 

Another flavor we liked was strawberry (fragola) with balsamic vinegar.  The sweet taste of the balsamic vinegar blended well with the tart strawberry.  The flavor won a prize in an earlier round of the competition.

Another flavor we enjoyed was gelato made with sparkling wine.  Cheers!

There were several lemon flavored gelato, including one from a gelato shop in Warsaw.   

A dude in a traditional Polish costume with some random hottie

Of course, there were traditional flavors as well.  We especially enjoyed the pistachio-hazelnut gelato (pictured below).

After sampling most of the flavors, we voted for our favorite. (Drum roll, please.) 

Our favorite was an exotic combination--strawberry and red pepper.  We could taste both flavors and, believe it or not, they blended well for a delicious gelato.  Who knew?

Susan even met the gelato maker Vincenzo and his two flavorful sidekicks--Red Pepper and Strawberry.

One of the best features of the festival was the venue, on the Piazzale Michelangelo, overlooking Florence.   The views were beautiful. 

Thanks for enjoying the 2017 Florence Gelato Festival with us.  We hope you enjoy some gelato very soon.