My first gelato in Italy! The bluriness and general choatic state of this gelato can be explained I assure you. On my first night in Italy I stayed at a Hotel Medici, a charming and affordable hotel close to the city center. I was in my room and avidly looking gelaterias up on yelp. I was on a mission. I felt that my first day in Italy would not be complete without a taste of creamy chocolate-y goodness. I was right. I found a place that looked promising, Edorado's Biologico Gelateria! 4.5 stars on Yelp, and close by! I was getting really excited about it. I went down to the front desk and asked if it was safe to go outside alone, it was ten o'clock after all and my first night in the city. He assured me that it was safe and I ventured out into the streets of  Florence. The gelateria was a three minute walk so I felt confident that I would not get lost. There were some young Florentines yelling in the street on my left, dim lighting from some shop windows still open on my right, and the whole world in front of me. I was in love. The love that I felt increased tenfold when I turned a corner and stumbled across the Florence Cathedral or more commonly referred to as The Duomo. The Duomo. Can you ever walk by The Duomo and not feel incredible awe? Indescribable and unbelievable it took my breath away. I recovered enough to continue my walk only to find that Edoardo's was CLOSED. Nothing could bring me down that night, I rallied and circled the Duomo determined not to give up. With high spirits I spotted Mr. Pizza, a small, quaint, and most importantly OPEN shop. There was gelato in the window and I stepped excitedly into the shop. The woman greeted me in Italian and I mumbled back an unintelligible combination of ciao and buongiorno and something that would certainly make my Italian 3 professor ashamed. She was used to tourists so no worries I successfully ordered my first gelato! It was delicious, anything would have been delicious at that point and I have not yet been back but as first gelato experiences go it was fantastic and therefore I must include it in this blog. It is an important point in my growth as an Italian gelato connisieur. For 2.50 euro I cannot complain. It was the beginning of a beautiful journey. Speaking of journeys my phone was dead at that point and I could not live with myself if I failed to document my first gelato experience with a photo! What would my instagram followers and facebook friends think of me if I denied them of this very important moment of my study abroad experience?? I walked briskly back to my hotel room to charge my phone and snap a quick picture. Excepting a few drops here and there my gelato survived the trip no worse for the wear and I frantically reached inside my suitcase to grab my charger so I could soon devour my melting dessert. I pulled out my hand with a sting to discover a welling of blood on my left index finger, of course I had put in a loose razor in my suitcase without the cap on. Hindsight is always 20/20, not a smart move. Anyway my finger was bleeding profusely (slight exaggeration but there was quite a lot of blood) my gelato was melting, and the torrent of liquids fighting for my attention and my napkins was quite overwhelming you can imagine. I managed to wrap my finger with toilet paper and staunch the bleeding for enough time to snap a quick shot of my gelato before totally devouring it. Luckily I brought a brand new box of princess band aids so no worries about my finger, no stitches were necessary and the skin did not scar. I am back to full functioning capacity and have learned two lessons since that night. One, do not buy gelato from a store that has the name pizza in it and does not have the word gelato, or dolce, pastacerria or gelateria.  And the second, do not put sharp objects in places where you trustingly thrust your hand often. Both invaluable lessons that have served me well since then.