Italy
This was it. Italy, a food lovers heaven and the final stop before I had to go back to work. My first full day in Rome was spent on another Eating Europe Food Tour starting in Campo de’ Fiori. A beautiful Porchetta Sandwich is the first thing offered on the tour. It’s salty without being too much. Even now, sat here thinking about the Porchetta Sandwich, I am salivating. I’m still in search of a Porchetta Sandwich in the UK but I’m struggling to find an Italian in the North who has this on their menu. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.
In Campo de’ Fiori, lies a farmers market. Signora Christina operates a fruit and veg stall and serves a mean Caprese salad. The best one I’ve ever had. We wandered through the Jewish Ghetto, settling on a slice of Cherry and Ricotta Cake before walking for a few more minutes to grab some Artichokes. They weren’t bad, but they were not my favourite. We finished the tour with Pasta and Gelato. You have to when you’re in Italy don’t you?
I only spent 1 day in Rome before I started another Contiki trip. This covered Rome, Pompeii, Naples, Salerno, Capri, Amalfi and Positano before finishing in Rome 6 days later. We had a food tour in Naples as part of the Contiki trip. This was another Eating Europe tour, whilst the food was great, there were too many of us taking part in the tour. One half of the group ate, whilst the other half stared at them through the window as they stuffed their faces.
I was glad to be back in Rome after the trip ended. I was a little disappointed with the trip this time, it was nowhere near as amazing as the Greek adventures I had the previous month, but I did manage to cross off another item from the food bucket list… Tiramisu. I found a Café in Positano and spent a couple of hours eating Tiramisu, drinking Coffee and watched Tennis on the tv. Not sure I made the right choice in having Tiramisu and Coffee, it was a bit of a Coffee overload but if I wasn’t awake before, I definitely was after that.
After eating Pasta nearly every day on the trip, I needed something different. I found Wagamama’s at Roma Termini station and ordered 2 plates of Gyoza. My stomach needed something not Pasta or Pizza related.
After a days break from Italian food, it was soon back to it with Bruschetta and Pizza at a restaurant not far from Piazza Navona. I had been looking forward to visiting Piazza Navona but when I arrived, most of the Piazza was closed due to restoration works. I was disappointed but the Bruschetta with flavourful, fresh tomatoes more than made up for the disappointment.
The rest of my week in Rome went by in a haze of Pizza, Pasta, Gelato and Italian architecture. I caught the train up to Florence, checked into my hotel, and set off on my mission to find food. I didn’t have to wander far before I found what I was looking for. Ristorante Pizzeria da Nasone offered Tuscan food which was exactly what I needed. I was the only one in the Restaurant when I arrived at 5pm, perusing the menu, I settled on a Steak salad. It was the best Steak Salad I have ever had any only consisted of 4 ingredients; Steak, Rocket, Parmesan and Balsamic. I visited the restaurant many times during my week in Florence and always ordered the Steak Salad.
The day after my arrival in Florence I had booked a cooking class through Eating Europe. It was a Pizza and Gelato class. When I had taken part in the Food Tours, it had always been just adults, some couples but other solo travellers too. This cooking class, was all families… I was the only solo traveller taking part. The class was good, would’ve been better if I had some fellow solo travellers there with me. No recipe was provided during the class, instead at the end of the class, we were directed to the website of the cooking studio to find the recipes. The only downside to the class was that there wasn’t enough Mozzarella for the Pizza, I only ended up with Mozzarella on half my Pizza.
After a couple of day trips to Pisa and Siena, I was off on another food adventure round Florence. The Florence Central Market Food Tour began at 10am, when the tour ended 3 hours later, it was fair to say I was slightly drunk. With nearly every item of food I ate, there was an alcohol beverage involved. It was an amazing food tour, definitely tied with the Athens for the best food tour I had done. I saw Cantucci being made by hand in the window of the bakery and even tried a Lampredotto sandwich. Lampredotto is made from the fourth and final stomach of a cow. It’s an acquired taste but definitely not for me, I still love the Porchetta Sandwich.
Soon it was time to head to the train station to catch the train to Verona for my final week in Italy. I had decided to book a first class seat and upon boarding the train, I was greeted with a hot beverage and biscuits. Definitely needed as I had left the hotel without my morning Coffee. I checked into my hotel in Verona and was given a map of the city along with a list of hotel recommended restaurants and the type of foods I could expect to eat whilst I was there. I read this thoroughly once I had walked into my room and was horrified to see Donkey and Horse was on the menu. I’ll eat most meat but not Donkey or Horse. Definitely stay clear of Horse and Donkey if you don’t want to eat them.
Day trips to Milan and Venice were on the agenda this week, a lot of people had warned me about Venice, that it was crowded, smelly and horrible. I went bearing this in mind but when I arrived in Venice, I immediately loved it. It was beautiful, I wandered around the city for hours, buying Venetian Glass, taking a solo Gondola ride and burning off the calories from the Pizza I had eaten for lunch. For some unknown reason in Venice, when I paid for my food at the restaurant, my card was declined. How odd as I definitely had enough money in the account to pay for it, I wasn’t sure what the issue was. The Waiter came back 10 minutes later for me to try again and what would you know, the card payment went through. Still to this day I don’t understand why it declined in the first place but it was pretty embarrassing.
In the centre of Verona is a little market selling all sorts of souvenirs and knick-knacks. At the bottom end of the market stood a little fruit stall selling Chocolate covered Strawberries, a little pricey at 5 Euros for a little tub but it was 5 Euros well spent in my eyes.
As always I found myself at McDonalds, browsing the menu I noticed Parmigiano Reggiano was offered as a snack item on the menu, but my favourite thing I found in McDonalds was a Pizza Calzone. It was Cheesy, Tomatoey and fluffy.
And just like that I was on the plane back to the UK. The last 3 months had flown by, I was devastated it was over, but my bank account told me I needed to get back to reality and back to work. Not all was lost though, I had 61 days before Australia and this was going to be a special trip…I was turning 30
My Tips for Italy
- Take cash with you, Gondola drivers only accept cash and you need to pay to use public restrooms.
- Rome is a very walkable City, I walked everywhere, even if it took me 45 minutes to walk there, I did. You never know what hidden gems you may find on your way.
- If you visit the Colosseum and someone hands you a bracelet, do not accept. This is a scam. They will offer you the bracelet for free, then demand money when you take it from them.
- If you are catching the train, instead of looking for your destination, look for the train number. This should be printed on your ticket. Don’t forget to validate your tickets before boarding. You may be fined if the ticket is not validated.
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