Word of the Day: Passeggelato

Today's passeggelato is sponsored by Al Settimo Gelo. Go there. Please.

Happy Vernal Equinox, everyone! And in honor of this first day of Spring (which Rome is really honoring quite nicely – way to clear up yesterday’s drizzle!), I offer you a delicious and refreshing new portmanteau: passeggelato.

Passeggelato is derived from two of Italy’s most enduring and loveable pastimes – the afternoon passeggiata and the unbridled consumption of gelato. For the uninitiated, a passeggiata is at first just a fancy-sounding word for a walk, but really is more of a cultural institution. The evening passeggiata with friends, the walking-off-Sunday’s-giant-lunch passeggiata with family. It can even be more of an excursion – “Let’s take a passeggiata up the Gianicolo!”.  But no matter how you slice it, a passeggiata’s best form is the one that involves the presence of gelato. And gelato, as if I really need to explain it to you, is frozen heaven. Thus, a passeggelato is a walk one takes on a lovely spring afternoon in the presence of good company and a panna-topped cone of gelato. Take a look outside, everyone. I think it’s the perfect day for a passaggelato.