Wednesday, March 23, 2011

spring break part one: the food

(it wasn't just good. it was pretty too.)

roma

our first taste of food in good old italy was some pizza.
i thought i was getting pineapple but it was really potato.
(still good)
giulia took us to the best gelato in rome. it was a mad house. it was wall to wall packed with people trying to get the good stuff. i got pear and grapefruit. unreal
we went to a most fabulous dinner at a restaurant called recafe.
i had a caprese salad.
best. mozzarella. i. have. ever. had.
allison and i shared some tasty pasta as well.
it was cooked al dente to the tee. perfection
day one, gelato stop two
marriott breakfast #1
did we sneak enough food up on our two trays?
don't worry. we ate it all.
the fruit was divine, the juice was even better
the blood oranges were so tasty.
giulia was a great tour guide because she knew the sites AND the good places for food.
we went to lunch at this great little bakery called roscoli and had these amazing flat bread sandwiches. i had fresh moz and salami.
she insisted we get some pastry treat at the bakery too. i have no idea what this was, but it was so good. kind of bizarre to eat, it practically unrolled into my mouth.
a few minutes later we passed another famous bakery and had to get another treat. i got some delectable chocolate cake. it was so good i did a heel click.
don't worry we hit two more gelato stops. within five minutes.
i tried some citron, peach, pineapple, and strawberry.
so good.
day two, stop two
marriott breakfast #2
we knew the filled croissants and cute mini donuts were the way to go.
and the blood orange juice was just as good as the day before
once we got to our little italian village we stopped for gelato.
you shouldn't be surprised. allison got a kinder gelato. awesome.
we also stopped at this precious little 'cafe des amis' for some darling (and super cheap) pastries and cookies. we went back for seconds, don't you worry.
best gelato yet. melon, mixed berry, and nutella.
the perfect pre-dinner snack.
at dinner we started with real, italian mozzarella sticks (actually balls) and then had the most delicious bruschetta. (pronounced bru-SKETT-uh)
our cute brazilian waitress treated us to the house specialty for dessert: sweet pizza dough smothered in nutella. one word: heaven.

geneve

don't judge. our first meal in geneva was mcdo.
why? because we arrived and realized we had no idea what the value of a swiss franc was. so we paid with euros at mcdonalds, got francs back, and did the math with our receipts. plus, i had to get mcdonalds at least once here to see if it actually tastes classier too. verdict: nope, not really.
after our disappointing lunch, we decided to go big for dinner.
we did it the swiss way and had fondue in the most happening little restaurant on the lake called 'bain de paquis'. it was full and lively and i've never tasted better cheese fondue.
the next morning we stopped at a darling little swiss pastry shop. i got this stuffed croissant. it wasn't a regular croissant, i think it was made with an egg bread so it was yellow and doughy. so good.
the family we stayed at was kind enough to feed us. this was good because switzerland is not a cheap place to eat. we had hamburger pie one night and mexican enchiladas the next, but my favorite meal was the pb&j we had for lunch. it had been much to long since i had smothered peanut butter on some sandwich bread, and it was good.
we also bought PLENTY of chocolate to try. the swiss brands like callier and milka are just so good. even the 50 cent chocolate with the cute alps packaging was good. i indulged and got myself a kinder surprise as well. worth it.

we ate so well. if you want to eat delicious food, for cheap, go to italy. it was absolutely amazing. my diet is starting as soon as i get home. spring break 2011 part one? success.

3 comments:

  1. You better do a lot more walking and biking to burn off all that sugar and those calories. Yet when in Rome do (eat) what the Romans do (eat), n'est-ce-pas vrai? And Geneva has a whole different food, yet ever soooo good. Have you tried the vanilla yogourt in a bottle? We thought that was the best in Suisse. "Sweet" dreams...to match the "Sweet" days. Lots of love to you, one and all. Grandpa and Grandma Hart.

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  2. A very nice 10 lbs blog post, i can see a nice coffee table book on European desserts coming in the future.

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  3. Fondue, bruschetta and a heel click...sounds like my kind of day! I'm so hungry after reading this post Mads. So glad you had such a great trip!

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