Little Italy

Our little excursion today did not turn out as planned. We were supposed to go and volunteer in Little Italy at Amici Park to bag seeds, design cards, etc. for the Disney "give a day, get a day" promotion. However, even though it wasn't raining when we got there, the park was empty with not a clue as to where the group went. Well, since I got the family all out of the house on a rainy day (quite an accomplishment), I might as well make the most of it...we walked a couple blocks down from State Street onto Date Street and found Caffe Italia for some Gelato (Italian Ice Cream). If you haven't been to Little Italy, this turned out to be a great time to go, with little traffic and a free parking space. It would have been neat to see the italian old guys play bocce ball in the park, or experience the Farmer's Market that was just ending. If we had more time I would have taken them to Filippi's Pizza Grotto down the street, since I like the store inside the restaurant; or Carol Gardyne's Studio to see some of her hand painted silk scarves (Carol lives around the corner from me and travels to France often for inspiration and merchandise).

But with a limited amount of time and money, Gelato was a perfect adventure for my crew! We bought 5 small cups for $16 and got dark chocolate, strawberry and butter pecan flavors. The strawberry is my personal favorite, followed by the chocolate. The cool part was listening to a group of italians enjoying life at the table next to us. Even Scott liked listening to the foreign language. Or seeing a couple old italian guys chatting away in Italian as they walked down the street (probably mad the Bocce Ball pit was washed out). Hence, if you don't like crowds, go outside on a rainy day...it's wonderfully refreshing!