Food, Glorious Food!!

Okay, so I hand it to the Italians - The Coloseum was impressive. St. Peter's Basilica was pretty awesome. The Sistine Chapel - breathtaking. But, my favorite part of Italy? THE FOOD!!! As those of you who have travelled with me know, I take pictures of any meal that looks tasty or interesting... which was nearly everything in Italy! Take a look, and remember to wipe the drool off of your keyboard when you are finished. :)

My first real meal in Italy - lunch outside the Spanish Steps. A yummy salmon salad, bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and, of course, WINE!

Okay, not food, but this was the view out of the restaurant where I ate - it was BLAZING hot this day, so I didn't mind sitting in the air-conditioning while SEEING the steps, instead of sitting ON the steps. :)

My first, and favorite, gelato. I had at least one gelato every day, and this one was the best combination - dark chocolate and hazelnut... delicioso!

Pasta Carbonara - they crack an egg on the hot noodles, which then cooks on there and is mixed in... complete with lots of cheese and prociutto. YUM! (um, yes, this was the first course of my dinner... of three!)

Second course... yes, I was a little piggy! This one is called Saltimboca, which means "jump into your mouth". It's pork wrapped in Italian ham, and, yes, was yummy!

Final course... the best tiramisu of my trip and an Italian coffee. And, yes, if you are counting, this makes two desserts in one day and ZERO running.

Brucshetta at one of our lunches - the tomatoes were SO FRESH!!

My first real Italian pizza... and, yes, that is an egg on top - this was the "Roman" style pizza

Stuffed zuchini - stuffed with what? We think it was sausage, and we think it was delicious! :)

Gnocchi - this was one of my favorite meals - lunch in Pompeii! These are little potato dumplings, and absolutely scrumptious! :)

So, that is a summary of the FOOD part of my trip. Let's not talk about the wine... I'll say that we drank a fair amount everyday because 1: it was really cheap, 2: it was really good, and 3: we were on vacation, so why not! :)