gelato gelato gelato

rather than having several postings about gelato i thought i'd be easier to do one post with all my gelato samplings from the trip.

this coconut gelato shake is from frankfurt, germany and it was refreshing since it was cold but it was too milky and runny for my liking.

rome, italy

after eating so much gelato my memory could be wrong but overall this was my favorite gelateria,

della palma gelato di roma.  they had about 60 flavors and some very unique flavors that i was able to taste.  in the end i went with the flavors shown above.

venice, italy

this is actually sherbet for dessert on the boat

back to rome for more gelato

guess i deleted the picture of the actual gelato.. my bad!

lucca, italy

barcelona, spain

interesting finds

here are some of my interesting finds while i was in europe:

in germany i found something called a capri-sonne
or as we say in america capri sun

i had no clue duff beer was legit, did you?

the can says 'legendary',
guess that means everyone else knew but me.

candied hazelnuts, hope i can find these in the states!

i ate these two gems every morning on the cruise,

chocolate milk and banana yogurt.

rockefeller

i'll admit that i'm a little ashamed to say that we ate at an american restaurant while in france but what could i do, it's not always my decision to make.  we did try to find something more authentic but the french sandwich shop where i wanted didn't have wi-fi so it was shot down rather fast.  the sandwich was good but i figured it was best to order something small and get snacks to enjoy along the way.

lucca in tavola

spent a delightful afternoon in piza at the leaning tower but after witnessing the pick pocketers we decided to be on our way.  we hopped on a bus and spent the remainder of our time on the quaint and quiet streets in lucca.  we stumbled across this cute place called lucca in tavola and thought we'd give it a go. when the waitress came to take my order she didn't speak much english but i could tell she was confused by me and the ordering of two dishes for one girl.  i assured her by rubbing my belly that i was hungry and she smiled back and went on her way.  the funny thing was when the food came out she still gave me a look wanting confirmation that she had my order right.. yes i assure you put the plates down and leave me to eat in peace.

meat lasagna

lasagna was one of my favorite foods growing up so it was nice to experience a few plates of real italian lasagna.  i know i'll get some flack for this but i have to admit that i prefer the recipe my mother used to make, it's less rich and i can eat loads and loads of it.

margarita pizza with arugula - i would like to eat this once a week, that's how much i love it!

chocolatier

while walking through the shops we saw a chocolate shop called quetzalcoatl chocolatier that looked expensive and interesting so we went in to check it out.  it's located near where we stopped for lunch and it's withing the blocks of the spanish steps shopping area.  these little bits of goodness cost something like 13-14 euro but those tiny pistachio cookies alone where worth the money i spent.  the chocolate was good but i don't specifically remember the kinds i bought.  i think there was a chocolate basil, a coco dusted truffle, a salted carmel and some type of nut cluster.

italian pizza redemption

back to rome to explore the sistine chapel and the spanish steps

i'm happy to report that i finally am in LOVE with ITALIAN PIZZA!!!  after several pizza disappointments in itally i now know what to order and i know what to avoid.

living on the wrong side of 30

adana kebab

ayran is a yogurt drink popular in turkey, it consists of yogurt mixed with cold water and salt.  sound disgusting? ya that's because it is disgusting.  lets break it down like this, why would anyone take a of watered down yogurt or i'd describe it as slightly salty water with a few spoonfuls of yogurt mixed in.

this is my adana kebab, it is named after the fifth largest city of turkey.  it's a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled on an open grill filled with burning charcoal.  this dish was recommended to me as a turkish specialty and the picture on the menu lead me to believe it was a good choice.  my taste buds said otherwise and i was disappointed my my decision to deviate from the standard kebab.  this was basically a spicy meatball rolled and stretched. sad thing is that even after looking this dish up online i'm still uncertain what type of meat was used.  my advice is to not try ayran or this mystery meat.

greek frozen yogurt

my day in athens consisted of sleeping on a park bench then waking up then throwing up.  then i had to change locations and find a new spot to sleep because i was embarrassed.  thankfully i ended up finding a tree that was close enough to a fence so i wedged myself between the two and took another nap until the girls finished their time at the acropolis.  once they were finished we went to a late lunch but i was unable to eat what i wanted so i ate pita bread and later grabbed some greek frozen yogurt.  i'm so glad i decided to order this because it was the best frozen yogurt i've ever had.  either that or i was so hungry anything would've been delicious.

midnight cruise snacks

one of my favorite things about the cruise life is
the fact that there is food 24hrs a day.

just one of my many trips to the midnight buffet.

pizza dog

why yes, i do want to try a pizza dog, how did you know?

while strolling the streets in venice i saw a window filled with pizza slices and there is was staring right at me.. a pizza dog.  having never seen or heard of a pizza dog it was only right that i try one to figure out what it's all about.  literally all it was was a standard dog wrapped in a slice of plain pizza.  the pizza itself was rather dry and lacked it's normal flavor.  come to find out that they didn't put sauce on it, basically that meant it was a hot dog smothered in cheese and wrapped in a thin layer of dough.  it needed mustard in my opinion since mustard is a must when eating a hot dog or at least some chili but in this case pizza sauce would have helped.  unfortunate for me the pizza dog was a huge let down and i couldn't even finish the entire thing.

italian cookies

i still can't believe i'm here but it was so great to wake up in ROME. after we got ready for the day and packed up our things we checked out of our adorable hotel called the merulana star and said goodbye to giuseppe then were on our way.  we rented a car and headed north for an unplanned adventure thru the beautiful lands in tuscany.  here are pics of some of the yummy treats i picked up at a local bakery and ate along the way.