Guest Post: Italian Food

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Greetings from Venezia! It’s hard to believe that this is our last full weekend in Italy, but we’ve experienced so much over these past 7 weeks. I know you’ve read a lot about our sight seeing adventures and fun trips we took on free days… but if there is one thing Italy is known for, then it’s the food! Since the start of the trip, I’ve been keeping tabs on every meal we’ve eaten so here are some of the highlights.

To start, our first and most exotic meal in Italy was cooked octopus! We had some right off the plane in Palermo, Sicily, and although it scared some people it wasn’t half bad. We’ve also had tuna fish pasta in Agrigento, swordfish in Taormina and shellfish in Venice.

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We’ve also sampled some traditional Italian favorites such as pasta carbonara (eggs, bacon and cream sauce), pasta bolognese (meat sauce), pasta genovese (pesto sauce), lasagna, risotto, pizza and gnocchi (potato dumplings). Everyone is a huge fan of gnocchi – it is so filling and delicious!

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My favorite thing about Italy so far has been the dessert! And whether we like it or not, we all have a sweet tooth. We ended our first night in Italy with a cannoli and our last night is still to be determined. We’ve had tiramisu, semi freddo (a frozen dessert specialty), panna cotta and tons of gelato! Saying that there is a great assortment of gelato flavors is an understatement. I’ve tried frutti di bosco (mixed berries), fragola (strawberry), stracciatella (chocolate chip), cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate), menta (mint), cafe and a whole lot more! There are gelaterias on nearly every street corner in Italy, but if you are ever in Rome you need to visit Old Bridge Gelateria near Vatican State – you won’t regret it.

Honestly, I am excited to come home and see my family and friends. I am definitely going to experience withdrawal from Italy’s famous three P’s: pizza, paninis, and pasta.

Ciao and see you soon!

– Angela
Italy 2012

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