Friday, March 12, 2010

Frizzante

I LOATHE FRIZZANTE. I absolutely hate it. In Italy they have Naturale, the good water, and Frizzante. Naturale is regular, still, fresh, crisp, refreshing water. Frizzante is seltzer. It isn't even good seltzer, though. In restaurants they always ask if you want your water still or sparkling. I want my water still. In the markets they sell bottles of Frizzante mixed in with the bottles of Naturale. In the Tabacchi's its the same. It is really important that we Americans who can't stand Frizzante really study the bottles that we are picking up. It is honestly the easiest thing in the world to mix up the two. They don't distinguish between the two different kinds of water adequately here and it is really driving me insane. Water is my absolute favorite drink. I like water MORE than I like wine. That is unbelievable to even me. I drink water so much that I drink it while I'm sleeping. You can ask my mom. She knows how often I have dreams about water and actually need to drink it while I'm in bed sleeping.

My mom can also verify that I am more particular about my water than I am about anything else I consume. I cannot have any sodium in my water. If bottled water has even a speck of sodium in it (which is really popular in Italy) I refuse to drink it. My water needs to be H2O and H2O only. I actually hunt here in Italy for bottled water that is sodium free. My water also cannot have ice in it. Obviously this is because I feel like it takes my body longer to process ice cold water than just cold water. I realize that this is probably the stupidest thing and clearly this has nothing to do with anatomy or biological processes. I just like my water the perfect temperature. I don't expect you to relate to where I'm coming from here, reader, because I realize how completey irrational I am about my water consumption. I just hope that you can understand that Frizzante water is absolutely not something I can do. It has this nasty aftertaste because Italians haven't gotten carbonation right yet. I hate carbonated beverages for the most part, anyway. Dr. Pepper rocks, but only once a month. It is also not refreshing. It doesn't hit the spot for me. If I want a drink in the middle of the night, I want me some Naturale. I cannot get Naturale for free in Italy because Italian water is unsafe to drink. The whole aquaduct-lead system thing that made emperors go insane and light whole cities on fire still hasn't been sorted out yet. Italians buy their water bottled, for safety. I can't drink the tap. So I need to purchase my Naturale.

THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD IS WHEN YOU MISTAKE A BOTTLE OF NATURALE FOR FRIZZANTE. This has happened a few times to me since I've been here. Italians packaging is really confusing here; they haven't really gotten this down, either. So sometimes a Frizzante bottle will say something like Aqua Minerale Naturale in big letters and Frizzante somewhere else. I'm pretty sure they do this because they want to make me suffer. I needed to post this tirade because I purchased at the supermarket six extra-large bottles of water for less than two euro. This was the best thing that has happened to me since I've been here. I was paying two euro just for one extra-large bottle for so long. I got home and opened a bottle and what should I hear but that familiar "fizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" that only a carbonated drink could make.
Arrivederci, for now.
Love, Gabby.

1 comment:

  1. Haha, I can't believe you just wrote about water that much. Cracks me up. I LOVEEEEEE the FRIZZY water. That is all I drink =)

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