Milano

The first description that comes to mind of Milan is that it is one of the fashion capitals in the world, but in addition to that, Milan is the main industrial, commercial and financial center of Italy. 

We planned to stay a day in Milan to do some shopping and sightseeing, but little did we know - Milan is pretty much completely shut down on Sundays. So we didn't really get much out of our visit there.

Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)

After a very disappointing tour of Milan, we decided to go back to our hotel and grab dinner nearby. 

Ristorante Il Vecchio e il Mare

http://www.ilvecchioeilmare.com/

Linguine and clams €8.50

I thought there would be a heavy cream sauce with the linguine and clams, but I was happily surprised by it. Noodles were a little softer than al dente, clams were tiny, but it was a hearty portion and it tasted ok. 

Grom

http://www.grom.it/eng/index.php

Right: Pistacchio and Zabaione; Left: Lampone and Crema di Grom (€2.5 for two scoops)

Pistachio had a "grainy" texture which made it seem a little more authentic; the Zambaione is a traditional Italian dessert of a rich, creamy egg pudding with sugar and wine. It was definitely a flavour unique to Italy. 

The Crema di Grom was really delicious! According to the website, the Crema di Grom is made of egg cream, "meliga" biscuits and dark chocolate from Columbia. I tried to pair it with the lampone (raspberry sorbet), but I found the sorbet was too tangy (borderline sour) and strong - I think I should stick to gelato. 

McDonalds' Pistachio McFlurry (€2.10)

Italy is all about the pistachio desserts - they served the nuts everywhere. I decided to jump on the bandwagon and see what the obsession was all about, so I ordered my first pistachio gelato in Venice and pistachio dessert in Rome and I haven't gone back. 

Now I've capped it off with a pistachio McFlurry in Milan which was AMAZING. They need to start this trend in North America ASAP! I'd take a pistachio McFlurry over any other McFlurry offered in Canada.

We picked up breakfast on our last day at

B-Floor

http://www.b-floor.it/sito/index2.htm

Top: Pistachio croissant & Bottom: apricot jam tart €1.80 

Everything looked appealing and yummy at B-Floor's Music Restaurant. The crossiant was good, but the apricot jam tart wasn't as nice as it looked. The tart crust was very crumbly and the jam was mediocre. 

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site along the rugged coastline of Italy's Liguria region. There's 5 villages in Cinque Terre that can be accessible either by hiking the trails or by Train.

Riomaggiore is the first of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre. 

Then it was Manarola and Corniglia (picture of the marina below)

Then Vernazza:

We climbed the highest hill to get a good picture of Vernazza and decided to stop for lunch there as well: 

Al Castello 

http://www.ristorantevernazza.com/cosa-offriamo

Al Castello's view of Vernazza

We ordered Pesto Lasagna (since the Liguria region is famous for their pesto sauce) and a Penne Rose

Amazing! The pesto lasagna was so aromatic and full of flavour. It was mostly a cheese lasagna, but it was delicous. The penne rose was al dente and the sauce had a rich bold flavour.

We also got the mussels which were really fresh. 

The next day, we hit the beach at Monterosso al Mare

The beach was super crowded with people and there were a gazillion umbrellas available for rent:

It really was amazing in Monterosso al Mare just soaking up the sun and swimming in the shallow waters.

We eventually went back to Riomaggiore for dinner at
Te la do io la Merenda

They only serve takeout - but the portions are quite large and really delicious:

Top: Spaghetti carbonara and Gnocchi al pesto (€8)

For a take out place, they were super busy (and with their delicious food, it's no wonder). The sauces was creamy and rich in flavour. It was authentic Italian food at its best and for such a great price - it's fantastic!  Te la do io la Merenda is a great place to grab and go when you're in Riomaggiore (you can fill up on carbs before your long hike to all the other towns)

Recommendation: Definitely allocate a few more days for travel when you're in Cinque Terre - not only is the scenery stunning, but the pesto sauce? OMG - there's a reason why it's world famous.

Firenze

Florence was my favourite city in Italy. Even though I love Rome and its 2000 year old history, Florence is an amazingly picturesque city with all its Gothic and Renaissance architecture. I found it classically Italian: gorgeous, laid back, warm and friendly.

Fantastic example of Gothic architecture: the Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

The View from the rooftop of the Cathedral - Absolutely stunning! 

We got to see this preview of Florence from the rooftop of the Duomo by joining the tour - it's worth it since you get a full history lesson of the Duomo, a brief history of the Medici family and some amazing photographs and memories from walking around. Another plus: no overcrowding of tourists! (The tour guides take you through the Cathedral and show you secret passageways and tunnels) 

You also get a birds eye view of the mosaics in the Cathedral which are fantastic with lots of optical illusions: 

(View from the top of the Cathedral)

And you get a closer view of the frescos!

After a great tour, we went back to our hostel to shower (and in this heat, you'll need to shower like 3 times a day if you sweat a lot) and we went out with our new Australian friends for dinner:

Trattoria Marione

http://www.casatrattoria.com/

Tons of cured meats hanging from the wall - it's the first time we've seen so much of it in a restaurant.

Best proschuitto and boccacini salad we've had! Amazing boccacini cheese - super fresh and soft

Pappadelle pasta with ground beef (yes it looks like meat lasagna but it isn't)

It was good. The pasta was fresh and there was a lot of ground beef. I left Trattoria Marione with a fantastic impression of Florentine food: it's so much better than what I ate at Venetian and Roman restaurants.

After dinner, we did a little wandering around Florence and SM managed to snap this stunning shot:

And of course, on our way back to the hostel, we found another gelato place (they're as popular as Starbucks franchises in major American cities). The perfect treat to end the day!

Pear and Hazelnut - Yummy pear gelato!

The next day, we hit the Galleria dell'Accademia bright and early to avoid the line-ups to see David. The statue was EPIC! It blew my expectations away - it's much taller in person (17ft) than the pictures that you see online or in books. 

We did some more wandering and decided to grab lunch/dinner at:

Trattoria Za-Za

Website: http://www.trattoriazaza.it/

 

Very cute right?

Top: Pesto Linguine 

Bottom: Spaghetti carbonara

These pasta dishes paled in comparison to Cinque Terre's pesto

Top: Gnocchi  

Bottom: Osso bucco with peas

We weren't very happy with our meals - the osso bucco was more like a veal scallopini and there was barely any bone marrow (but a lot of sauce)

At least dessert turned out well:

I found the most amazing Lindt store in Florence right next to the Duomo! They probably had the greatest variety of chocolate out of all the Lindt stores that I went to in Europe (including Switzerland - surprise surprise right?). The only problem? Everything started melting immediately in the sweltering Florentine heat.

On our last morning in Florence, we did a quick morning walking tour organized through our hostel, Archi Rossi and we got to learn more history about the Medici family and the Renaissance period.  

Ponte Vecchio

  

More Gelato! Peach and Kiwi!

The Kiwi was really light as was the peach gelato.

Loved Florence! I'd be back in a heartbeat if I got the chance - such an amazing city. 

Pisa

We caught the train from Rome to Florence and decided to stop over for a few hours in Pisa.

It's a relatively quiet little town with a lot of tourists 

making the pilgramage to the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

 

Boiling hot sun...and a million tourists trying to get the perfect shot propping up the Tower.

On our way back to the Train Station on Via Santa Maria, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at

Trattoria Pizzeria Toscana 

Margherita Pizza 

Simple tangy marinara sauce and cheese. Service was a little slow because of the huge inflow of tourists, but the meal was decent. 

Roma

I love history and one of my favourite ancient civilizations is the Romans. They were a practical civilization, building amazing architectural works such as the aqueducts, networks of roads and concrete buildings including huge entertainment centers like the Colosseum and Circus Maximus. Without the Romans, we wouldn't even have indoor plumbing or long lasting arch bridges. 

Vatican City

Since we got to Rome late at night, we decided to stay near the hostel and explore the area around Vatican City. We walked by Borgio Pio and noticed that there were a lot of restaurants with servers standing outside shouting and advertising their menus. At this point, we were starving, so we sat down at the nearest restaurant to grab a full four-course Italian meal with the antipasti, primo, secondo and dolce. It seemed like a good deal for 20 €

Antipasti: Insalata and samabucca

The salad was just washed and still watery. Meanwhile, the pork appetizer with bacon was drenched in salt and oil.

Primo: Spaghetti arrabiata

Directly translated, arrabiata means angry in Italian which refers to the spiciness of the sauce from chilli peppers. The arrabiata sauce wasn't that great in this dish.

Primo: Tortellini in panna sauce

The alfredo sauce was creamy and heavy and the tortellini were okay.

Secondo: Pork Medallions

Contorno: Fries

Lovely portion of fries right? This is what happens when you wander around desperate for food and stumble upon a tourist trap in Rome.

I forgot to take a picture of the Dolce (and I forgot what I ordered) either way it wasn't memorable.

After the failure of dinner in Rome on our first day, we were hoping for a better meal the next day. 

We started off our day at the Colosseum.

As we were walking to the Metro Station on Via Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour, we picked up a treat at a Gelato shop and lunch at a Sandwich shop:

Crema and Tiramisu Gelato

Crema (cream) is a popular flavour in Italy, so I decided to give it a shot. The crema had a subtle flavour and you could tell that it was richer than a normal gelato. The tiramisu gelato at the shop wasn't that great. 

Since Italy was super hot (30°C to 40°C) during the summer, we had a LOT of gelato everywhere. It's a fantastic cool treat especially in the hot and dry weather since we were spending our days tirelessly exploring. My favourite motivational phrase was "Great, we've seen <insert famous Italian sight/attraction>, I think we deserve a gelato break".

The restaurant was quite busy selling Porchetta, Pizza and other grab and go items.

Porchetta Sandwiches 

Amazing! The porchetta sandwich was simple: cheese, fresh tomato, mayonnaise and the crispy porchetta. 

The rosemary and garlic also added a fragrant touch to the meat. The bread was toasted as well - delicious! 

After lunch, we headed to Piazza Navona,

Tre Scalini

Website: http://www.trescalini.it/en/index.html

While exploring Piazza Navona, we caught sight of a sign indicating that Tre Scalini is the home of the original Truffle (Tartofu). Of course, we had to grab a treat there:

Delicious chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and a wafer. It was chocolatey goodness.

Next, Trevi Fountain!

After fighting the huge crowds at Trevi Fountain for the best picture, we were super tired and hungry. 

We originally had a list of recommended restaurants from travel guides, friends, acquaintances, etc. 

We went to about 3 of them - only to find out that the restaurants were closed for the month of August!

So we were reduced to eating at another tourist trap for dinner:

Top: Cannelloni and Meat lasagna

Two words: Very Cheesy

 There was so much cheese in both these dishes that they should have been called Cheese cannelloni and cheese lasagna with meat sauce. It was okay.

We finished the day at the Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti)

The next morning we started out bright and early with breakfast at a little cafe on Via Ottaviano right next to Piazza del Risorgimento. Two espressos and croissants. 

Inside Vatican City 

Paradiso Pizzestre Di De Maio Fabio

After the Vatican, we went back to Piazza del Risorgimento and saw a huge line up for Pizza. 

We joined in the line and grabbed some pizza al trancio:

Top: Sundried tomato pizza and Bottom: Shrimp and Artichoke 

€8.50 for both

Top: Tomato and mushroom and Bottom: Eggplant and chicken 

Really delicious! When we ordered, they immediately threw the slices of pizza into the wood-fire oven. 

So the crust was perfect: crisp on the outside from the oven, but the juices from the toppings soaked into the crust making it moist and tasty. My favourites were the shrimp and artichoke and the tomato and mushroom pizzas and they were such a bargain too!

Suppli 

Suppli is a rice ball with tomato sauce, egg and mozzarella inside and it's crunchy outside from being deep fried. We thought it looked really good and it was only €1 so we gave it a try. It was good!

Sabatini

Website: http://www.ristorantisabatini.com/

After extensive research using the Hostel's wifi, we found one of the recommended restaurants had a website and it was open in August! (Eureka!) So we headed over to Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere:

Oxtail Osso Buco and Abbacchio allo spiedo 

I was super excited to eat Osso Buco in Italy (since it originated in Italy). However, I was a little let down: the meat was not as tender as I would have hoped and I was actually disappointed with the bone marrow because the inside was still rock-solid and I couldn't dig my fork into the marrow to eat it. I was expecting ossobuco like Il Fornaro.

The lamb was good though.

Dolce!

The far cake slice is a creme pistache (Pistachio Cream on Raspberry tart) and a Tiramisu.

The pistachio cream was spoonfuls of delight! SO GOOD! It was perfectly offset by the tart raspberry cake portion and together they created dessert heaven! 

The Tiramisu at Sabatini ristorante was the best we had in Italy (still not comparable to Paese though)

Up close with the cake - you can see the yumminess!

Giolitti

Website: http://www.giolitti.it/english/home.html

What better way to end off our Roman adventure than with gelato from one of the "oldest and best" Gelato Cafes:

Pesca (peach) and Pera (pear)

The pear was refreshing; it was an intense and true recreation of the fruit flavour. However, I kept comparing it to my previous experience with Hollywood Gelato's pear flavour in Toronto and I found that I liked Hollywood Gelato's pear much better because it was sweeter and creamier than Giolitti's. 

The pesca was okay, but the pear was definitely the better of the combination.

Chocolate and Pistachio

The pistachio was delicious! Creamy melt-in-your-mouth (and hand) goodness. We weren't particularly wow-ed by the chocolate though. 

Conclusion: I've had a lot of my friends who've been to Rome tell me that some of the most amazing food was found here. And we did try to find the restaurants recommended by friends, food critics, and fellow hostelers - however, a lot of the restaurants were closed because August is the month most Italians take off to go travel around Italy. Therefore, what was left behind was the Tourist Traps! So we got stuck eating terrible over-pricey food in Rome on our trip and we were very disappointed.

Therefore, a word of caution: Don't go to Italy in August! The food's not that great, it's boiling hot and the tourist crowds are unbearable.