First post excitment! + IceCream :)

Ba-Bam! I'm Nova, and this is my first blog :)

I'm a teenager living in Tel Aviv, Israel.

I'm a singer, an artist, an actress, a student, an utter bookworm.
I'm a dreamer – some may say escapist – and I take every day as a fascinating adventure.

I love life. I love music, arts, movies, science, sports, books, animals, food, cities and anything unusual. I wanna have it all. Everything. And apparently I have the talent of picking the weirdest, coolest ice cream flavors ever, wherever and whenever I step into a gelateria. I'm always doing a billion things at a time, and I wanna show the world the beauty and awesomeness in all of them. Hence - this blog.

So, I've recently been to Italy, and that was the raddest experience. We were a whole bunch of people, and we just toured Tuscany through, like- well- tourists. We went to Florence, Siena and San Gimigniano, and also just walked aimlessly through a few of the smaller towns, just to soak in the feeling of it.

My favorite thing(s), except for the constant gelato eating, were the awesome water fountains on the streets of every Italian town and city. I think they're great - both functional and gorgeous, and the water is always cold! And I've noticed this: one of the water fountains in Florence, the one right on the wall of the Palazzo Veckio (the old palace), has two taps - one that gives normal, still, cold water, and one that gives SPARKLING WATER! It was such an awesome surprise: my ma & sis went to fill up our water bottles, and when I tasted the water in my bottle, it was fizzy! I just think it's a totally awesome idea, having sparkly water in your municipal public water fountains. I'd totally vote for that.

We went back there later and took a picture :)

And of course, the most important part of the post: GELATO!

I had the most amazing chain of flavors!

·        Amarena – cherries. With sugary pieces of cherries. And it was pink! It was great.

·        Torta di Riso – it means 'rice cake'. I've never had a cake made of rice, or even rice pudding, so I don't know – but this was creamy and had sweet crunchy pieces, and I loved it.

·        Pears & Pecorino – in the beginning I was a bit disappointed. I mean, it was great pear ice cream, but I wanted the Pecorino, and it wasn't that special without it. And then, about halfway through, I found a piece of Pecorino inside my ice cream. And my mouth just EXPLODED when I got the geniusness of it.

·        Caramel cream – Super smooth and tasted like real, dark caramel. It went really well the Pear & Pecorino's tang, because they evened eachother out.

·        Chili-Chocolate – Dark chocolate + Hot chili peppers = mind blowing, breathtaking (literally) ice cream. And it was really spicy!

·        Lavender – This flavor was so gentle. On one side, it was the perfect balance for the Chili-Chocolate, but on the other side, I was almost sorry that I didn't have it alone so I could concentrate on it's delicacy more. It was the firs time I've ever tasted anything with lavender, and I am in love with it.

·        Fruit salad - that means strawberry, raspberry, peach, mandarin and others, all combined – it tasted like vacation :)

·        Spirito Siciliano - lemon and tangerine- slightly sour and super awesome. It was so fresh!

·        Fior di panna – that means 'the flavor of whipped cream'. It literally tastes like frozen, sweet whipped cream. Best thing ever.

·        Susina – a small, sweet plum.

·        Saffron – How can I describe this? It was completely un-usual. Not exactly sweet, no. I don't know what to say. It was fabulous.

·        And, to close a circle…. Amarena cherries again. Always perfect.

To make up for the fact I didn't take any IceCream pictures, these are the names of my two favorite Gelato places from this trip  :)

-         La Strega Nocciola (I checked the name out – it means 'the witch hazel' or 'the witch of the hazelnuts'. Their gelato is wonderful, and the décor is super cute and inspiring.)
http://www.lastreganocciola.it/

-         Gelateria Carabe (Sicilian style gelato, which is lighter and gentler than cream based gelato, and every single flavor they have is amazing.)
http://www.gelatocarabe.com/ (English)
http://officinagelato.wix.com/carabe#!il-gelato (Italian)

AND NOW….. (Drum role) my music for today! Since I'm a musician, I can't do anything without music. Here's what I sang along to today :)

I was looking for some jazzy feel good music, and then I remembered these two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPAmDULCVrU

                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX1fhuYlQoI

I'm not the biggest Lady Gaga fan at all, but I love her look, and I think she's got a great voice, and jazz, unlike her usual things, really really accentuates that. I really love the video with Tony Bennett, too. She seems so at ease there, the air is so free and fun and I just ADORE her blue hair and lace dress.

What have you been listening to today? Tell me, I'm curious!

PS: A question – am I the only one that's extremely bothered if someone smokes nearby while I'm having IceCream? I don't smoke, and I dislike the smell of smoking, but I can handle it as long as it's not when I'm eating. But I simply CAN'T eat or drink anything when the area smells of cigarettes, and if someone is smoking near me when I'm eating – especially IceCream – I just move to a different place, where I can't smell it. Does it bother you guys? What do you do if it does?

(This is not 'hating' on smokers. I've no problem with them as people. I just dislike the smell of cigarettes and think people shouldn't smoke right outside IceCream parlors).

I'd really love it if you'd leave a comment :) 

Arrivederci, amici miei!

- ♥ -

Nova