on a sunny day not so long ago, lizzy and i were practicing chinese in this lovely backyard, which belongs not to me but to albero dei gelati. that place is full of surprises. for months, i thought that they only had gelato. organic, sustainable, and addictively delightful gelato, mind you, but just gelato. then winter came, and they put up a sign in the gelato window telling me that i could go inside for gelato. well, once i went inside, i got a lot more than gelato.
it was a gorgeous spring day, unlike today.
i got, like, three kinds of tuppo (which they kindly explained was italian brioche): chocolate, cream, and raisin/honey. then i spotted some focaccia pizza, which i added to my bag. i'm pretty sure i also got some sort of tiramisu, but at this point, who can remember? (numerous subsequent visits have blurred my precise memory of that first foray indoors.) then i discovered that they had really good frittatas that come on a platter with all kinds of other things like cheese and bread and salad. anyway, enough about the food (for this is not a food blog), and onto the backyard. this was the newest surprise from albero dei gelati.
pockets of green are always especially enchanting in a city, and this backyard enchanted my pants off. the pots of herbs on the yellow shelf are cute, but look at those tables! they are salad tables! i mean, what more can i say? and that green fence is pretty cool too.
i'm intrigued by the idea of putting a ladder (see below) in our yard so that i too can have hanging plants. but then i remember my paranoia about people rappelling (or if i had a ladder, climbing) into our subterranean yard. also, would it crash to the ground on a windy day and squash all my flowers? i also think about what would happen if a bird/squirrel died after descending into the yard. but you know, that's not really on topic so if you want to hear my thoughts on that, you can ask in the comments.
the ladder that sparked my paranoid trains of thought. it looks great there, though.
the space was definitely conducive to expanding one's linguistic repertoire, and also to eating, drinking, and general relaxation. they also have wifi. i can't wait until the weather clears up so i can go back. what is "gelato" in chinese? lizzy? anyone?
in addition to the salad tables, you can sit in this bright corner...
..or at these ikea green tables.