Wanderlust: Italy Part due

Following up from my post on my vacation, one of the things I absolutely love when visiting a foreign country is exploring their cuisine. I love to try things I've never eaten before (not exactly Andrew Zimmerman level though) and I believe that sharing in a country's cuisine is the best way to get to know their culture. One of the most outstanding eats I encountered on this trip was fried anchovies in Cinque Terre. Since this town is along the Italian Rivieria, seafood is obviously a staple in their food. Some of you may be thinking, "fried anchovies?? Uhhh." But trust me, it was absolutely fantastically delicious. It's considered street food and comes in paper cones that reminds me of something that french fries would come in. Squeeze some lemon juice on those little fishes and it's game over. I feel like anchovies get a bad rap here in the states, perhaps because they're prepared too salty but this was not the case. Ok let me stop with the anchovies, I think you get the picture. Another thing I stuffed my face in was pesto. Pesto sauce is usually made from basil leaves, pine nuts, pecorino cheese, garlic, and olive oil and it actually originates from this region so they had pesto everything on restaurant menus and it was divine.

 

Dont be fooled by this one picture of gelato. You know that saying, "When in Rome do as the Romans do?" Yea well, I did exactly just that. I had gelato every.single.day....sometimes even twice shhhh. Gelato is an Italian frozen treat that has the similar make up as ice-cream but it has less butterfat content which makes it healthier. This is what I told myself everyday to justify my daily gelato needs HA! My favorite flavors and trust me, I tried them all, was pistachio and fragalo (strawberry). Sigh I will miss this.

 

When deciding which wines to go with my meals, I chose each restaurant's house wine 95% of the time because they were locally produced by the restaurant. I felt like it would be a disservice if it wasn't drank, right? I'm a fan of white wine and oh my, it tasted mighty good throughout all the restaurants. Crisp, slightly fruity, and refreshing was the general taste for the whites.

As always, thanks for reading and taking the time to share in my adventures. If possible, go travel, explore and see the world. It will change your life.

Wanderlust: Italy Part Un

I just got back from vacationing in Italy a couple days ago and am still sorting through all the pictures I took. I have so many to share that this will be most likely be divided into several different posts:) I couldn't have asked for a better vacation because the weather was perfect (high reached to upper 80's and the lowest it got was in the 70's). I visited Pisa, Florence and Cinque Terre and each place made a lasting impression on me; however, the most memorable out of the three was Cinque Terre. Cinque, in Italian means "five" and there are five towns along the Italian Riveria (Monterosso, Manarola, Vernazza, Corniglia and Riomaggiore). I rented out an apartment in Manarola and was drawn by the loveliness of this place overlooking the Mediterranean. Similar to the remaining 4 other towns, it is built on cliffs overlooking the sea and in order to get to the other towns you can either hike the connecting paths, take the train or a boat. They are not accessible by car so those are your only options!

I hope you enjoyed some of my travel pics but there's more to come so stay tuned;) "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." -St.Augustine