Both Paul's folks and the December 2009 Delta magazine recommended this little gelato shop for its quality and unique flavors.

It was very cold, and slightly sprinkling. I'm not sure what we were thinking. But, it was kind of close; so, we went ahead and hiked to the location. We were saddened to learn that the window of the stand faced outside. There was no way of going inside to eat our ice cream in the heat. We were going to have to walk and eat to stay warm.

The concierge at our hotel needed to direct us to a reasonably fast dinner location. Paul said Italian pizza sounded good, and she made a reservation for us at Salute! on Madison Ave. and then directed us on the best way to get a cab to Carnegie Hall for a beautiful, but long performance of Handel's Messiah. (In case you never knew, the Hallelujah Chorus is not the end of the program, only of Part 2.)

While walking down Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale looking for a reasonable place to partake of lunch, we happened on a flag outside a chocolate shop advertising Gelato. We walked in and reviewed the case of about 20 flavors. The proprietor had an accent and an inviting smile. He was helping someone else when we entered, which gave me time to take a look at the chocolate selection. Even on sale, they were out of my price range, but the packaging was well done and the flavors sounded yummy.

Amorino is a chain pastry shop with coffee and gelato that has many locations in Paris. A number of individuals in our group loved it and visited it regularly. We didn't like the looks of the gelato nor the selection and went back to Grom for our last night in Paris. To research Amorino for yourself, visit www.Amorino.com, but the website is in French.

It seems so long ago now, but in 2005 when I finished my Master's degree, Paul took me along on a trip to Italy and Germany. I believe everyone should visit Italy given the chance, although I think I love Germany more. This trip was peak-season, but we are very happy to travel in February/March/April when it's cooler and when the rates aren't so high. We have done that the last two years. But this was my first trip to Europe, and I will always remember it very fondly.