Quiche Florentine
My first enjoyable meal since leaving home and the airplane delay was at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in Texas. I found a cute little French cafe named La Madeleine near our gate A23. It was a delicious Quiche Florentine and a Linzer Heart Cookie.
The food provided on the airplane flight either way is never worth mentioning so I won't other than sometimes it's okay. I always bring snacks.
ROME
We arrived at the Arch Rome Suites in the center of Rome early Thursday and were on time for the awesome variety of food items provided each morning during our stay. We each grabbed a huge filled pastry to take to our suite and unpacked lightly before anxiously leaving to walk around the neighborhood. Keith had found this famous gelato place Giolitti months ago and that was our first destination. It did not disappoint as we enjoyed our first of many of these ice cream-like desserts. I do not think I ever found one I didn't like! They seemed to be around every corner. I'm sure we both had at least one a day while we were in Italy. My favorite is lemone (lemon). I liked fruit flavors best.
We bought a couple cannolis to take back to our suite to eat and rested after we finished unpacking and enjoying our balcony. Marika, the manager of our hotel, recommended the restaurant next door and said we likely would not need reservations.
Gelato Varieties
Plain Cannoli with Cherries
We decided to drop in the restaurant next door about 6:00 PM. We quickly learned that reservations were expected everywhere and that the normal dinner hour doesn't typically begin until at least 7:00PM. The waiter(s) at La Ciambella were very polite and understanding as we started to excuse ourselves and tried to make a reservation for 7:00PM that evening. I had mentioned that Marika next door highly recommended this place for our first dinner. The head waiter left and came back to us shortly and said that they could accommodate us now. Lesson learned.
I had the Scallops with ham and sage and Eggplant parmigiana with smoked provola cheese. There was homemade bread. It was delicious!
Scallops with Ham & Sage
Eggplant Parmigiana with Smoked Provola Cheese
Friday we found the Restaurante Abruzzi while walking around enjoying the Pantheon a couple additional blocks away in the other direction from our hotel. We made a reservation for 7:00PM and walked around some more until then. We made a great choice!
Keith had the carbonara and artichoke. I had the prawns, artichoke and a fruit salad. The wine was perfect and we shared a bottle finishing with tiramisu for dessert. The outside seating was in perfect weather and we stayed long into the evening.
Prawns with Artichoke which is in season now
Tiramisu is typically served in a cup in Italy
Just had to stand in this arch of jasmine for a photo!
Celebratory toast for our 50th Wedding Anniversary!
Lamb
Carbonara with Pork Jowl
Tiramisu with a Fancy Chocolate-dusted Art
Cafe Coparica was one of many caffe (coffee) shops in Rome. The thing about coffee in Italy is that it is served in a little shot cup and called espresso. It is taken standing up and there are no free refills. Of course there are the cappuccinos, lattes, and other flavored versions. If you want something that resembles black American coffee, you have to specifically ask for an Americano coffee. You will get about half a cup of frothy black coffee; no refills. Sometimes (they seem to know you are American) you will be served an espresso in a cup with a half cup of hot plain water on the side so you can dilute the espresso to your desire to make one full cup. When you ask for an Americano coffee, you will always get packets of sugar even when you ask for plain black. Maybe Italians think all Americans must have excess sugar because Americans generally prefer everything much sweeter than Italians. Even the decadent fancy pastries, cookies, and gelato look much sweeter than they taste. Also, it is not common to have coffee with a meal. The exception being at breakfast which is typically no more than a pastry and coffee.
Sunday we enjoyed a nice long breakfast at the hotel suite before going to Mass close by. Our suite had a cook available for fresh squeezed orange juice made to order as well as choice of scrambled eggs or omelets, and waffles. Always a huge variety of proteins, vegetables, and fruits!
Pastry variety delivered fresh every morning!
After a change into more comfortable clothes, we skipped lunch thinking we could get something on our walk to the Colosseum. We had plenty of time and stopped along the way to enjoy the ancient ruins in several places. I needed to eat something before our tour so we stopped at what looked like a fast food place as we could find as it had limited seating. I just ordered a small panini, a salad, and a tiramisu with water to drink. It took what seemed like a long time for such a simple order but I had to eat. It was very good. The menu was simple and pictured for easy order out front. We were pressed for time to find our tour group and the app led us to an area just above the meeting place. We missed our tour group by about 7 minutes. We did walk all around the outside which was amazing! I'm thankful that we did stop to eat something first before walking anymore.
Insalata mista or mixed salad are always fresh!
Tiramisu
Instead of walking back to our hotel, we decided to take a taxi as we were really exhausted. After a much needed rest, we went back to our favorite place to eat nearby - Ristorante Abruzzi! We were able to get a reservation at 8:00PM. I had an amazing salad, beef consume, veal with lemon sauce, and fresh strawberries for dessert. The service was very friendly and we were very satisfied.
Salad with Tuna & Artichoke
Beef Consume (Broth)
Our very friendly waiter
Veal with Lemon Sauce
Fresh Fragole (Strawberries)
FLORENCE
The first meal we had in Florence was the closest restaurant to our Yome apartment across the street. I chose it because it was a close, easy walk and we were going to meet my cousins from the Czech Republic for our first visit this trip. They were staying about a mile away and took a bus to our central city location which had a bus stop a couple blocks away. Everyone was tired after a long day. The display of beef in the front window was impressive. Il Paiolo Restorante was a good choice although I think Italians must like their Tuscany beef more rare than I do but I did eat most of the center of my serving of grilled ribeye that I ordered as medium. I have to say that the beef from the Midwest United States is superior but I'm glad I tried something different that was also good. The salad was exceptionally fresh!
We ate here more than once. Fried eggs with black truffles was amazing! We came back a couple more times just for that. Grilled vegetables, breads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, antipasto boards, cheese cake and biscotti with a wine sauce were all exceptional!
There was more food here than I pictured as there were four of us and all the servings were well like and looked amazing! I did get introduced to a drink called an Aperol Spritz here that I ordered many other places also.
Fresh Vegetables with Mozzarella
Tuscany Rib-eye Beef Steak
Antipasta Board Variety
The antipasto board (Italian) is like a charcuterie board (French). In Italy it is usually shared by at least two people with a variety of processed meats & pates, cheeses, olives, and many other naturally preserved foods. It is typically served as the appetizer with bread and wine. I think of it as a variety of "not pasta" foods. In the above photo you can see the display of raw, aged, Tuscany beef cuts in the chiller window near our table. Also, my Aperol Spritz (orange) is the alcohol drink of my choice when I'm not sharing a bottle of wine which I always at least taste. Notice the "Aqua" bottle. All water is served upon request only and comes in these kinds of glass bottles in restaurants.
Eggs with Fresh Shaved Truffles (mushrooms that are actually BETTER than morels!)
Verdure Grigliate (Grilled Vegetables)
Biscotti with a Sweet Wine Sauce
Our apartment had a great location less than a block from several good restaurants, a fresh food market, and a fairly large grocery store! I'm sure we ate at these same places several times even though I took only a few photos of the foods. By now, many of the exceptionally good foods we were eating were common everyday meals for us especially the paninis, gelato, cannoli, and a huge variety of pastries!
L'Antico Trippaio Located in front of Bella Italia Ristorante on the corner was our favorite panini place as it served a variety paninis which are any kind of mostly meat filling between two pieces of bread that can be heated and pressed together. Some are ready made and also can be made to order. There is limited seating so sometimes we just got something before we went home to our apartment to eat on our beautiful balcony. You just don't see people eating while they are walking. It was our "just around the corner" go-to place so I guess it could be as close to a "fast food" restaurant as it gets here in Italy!
Bella Italia Ristorante - Osteria This place has many good gelato varieties! There is limited seating inside and outside. I'm sure it is part of a larger restaurant with more indoor seating but this is the corner portion open to the street we frequented as we had so much to do and see that most of our eating pleasures at this point of our trip were done at the moment with few reservations made like we did in Rome. There were so many outdoor seating places to eat on the several piazzas around the few blocks of our apartment!
Gelato Varieties
Lemone Gelato - MY FAVORITE!
Panini with lemone soft drink
Our Yome Home in Florence is located on Via del Corso; jus around the block from L'Antico Trippaio, Bella Italia, a fresh produce market and a large, multi-branch grocery store, Carefour Express. On the same block across the street is Il Paiolo Restorante. One block away is Paoli Antico Restaurante 1827. Between the Arno River to the south and the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (aka The Duomo), we were less than a mile walking to the major piazzas (plazas) and most amazing sites of Florence. Our central location provided us with more food choices than we could handle in the seven nights of our stay but we sure gave it our best shot at a pace that was right for us!
Fresh Produce Market just around the corner from where we stayed
Onions soup “del Paoli”
Carbonara al Tartufo
Pasta with tuscan bacon, eggs, pepper, cheese and fresh truffle
Livornese style cod
Cheesecake
Osteria Del Fiore Ristorante Pizzeria - Best variety of dishes with fresh truffles!
Fresh Truffle Ravioli
Spinach Souffle and Pecorino Fondue
Cheesecake
Lasagne
Carbonara with Fresh Truffles
Nonni's Apple Pie
Dolce Opera at Piazza Duomo - Pizza Farcita Ricota
Lindt Chocolate Shop - this narrow building has a duplicate display on the opposite wall with even more varieties!
Caffetteria Bartolini is located at the top of the Uffizi Galleria and has a great view of the Piazza della Signoria and the Duomo! We both had panini, fresh squeezed orange juices, coffees, and chocolate pastries after an early morning arrival at this museum. After this leisurely brunch, I was ready to to continue the other floors of the Uffizi Galleria!
Amazing views from Caffetteria Bartolini in the Uffizi Galleria!
Chocolate Pastries, Fresh Orange Juice, & Americano Coffee
Over the last 2-3 days, we wandered back and forth from one piazza (plaza) to another near our apartment to the nearby Piazza Duomo, Piazza Della Republican, and the Piazza della Signoria including the side streets to the Arno River and back. Sometimes I noted where we ate with a business card or receipt. But sometimes we just stopped whenever and wherever enjoying the moment as we kept things unplanned for the most part by this end of our trip! Many repeat visits to favorite places.
Prosciutto (thin sliced ham) with melon became a favorite and I ordered it several times as it is a common menu choice. I think I will have this combination much more when I get home. I never knew!
Had to try some authentic Italian spaghetti and it did not disappoint!
Keith tried many different carbonara dishes in Italy. This one had huge mushroom slices that he said tasted very meaty.
Piazza della Signoria had many outside seating restaurants.
Restorante Dei Phiori Pastry & Americano Coffee
Plain Cannoli with apricot on the Duomo Piazzo
My favorite cannoli is this pistachio but I never found one I didn't like!
Many times we just had a pastry or cannoli and an Americano coffee. The cheesecake and chocolate souffle were very good! Keith likes a coke once in awhile and I found I like an Aperol Spritz best.
So many gelato choices and so little time left in Italy to try them all!
The very popular Aperol Spritz - my new favorite introduced to me on my first night in Florence by my cousin Lucy!
I must note that I stayed away from a scale for two weeks on this trip and was expecting some weight gain as I did not hold back on eating anything I wanted and as much as I wanted. I thought the 7-hour time difference would mess me up as I typically stop eating by 7PM after only a light dinner; my biggest meals being an early breakfast and lunch at noon on my normal schedule in the US.
In Italy, I ate light for breakfast about mid-morning; mostly fruit and yogurt or a pastry. Lunch was a panini and salad about mid-afternoon. Then dinner had many courses beginning about 7 or 8PM and went on for 2-3 hours! There were at least 2-3 "snacks" in between as you can see by the variety in my photos.
When I finally weighed in at home, I had LOST 3 pounds! There was a lot of walking and stair-climbing exercise done for sure! I slept solid every night after active days. So about 2 weeks after I got home and back to my normal routine, the 3 pounds came back. My blood sugar numbers were fairly stable as I seemed to have managed it well enough and give myself some credit after over twenty years with diabetes knowledge and experience. I also give credit to science and the great medicine available now. Another thing worth mentioning is that the foods in Italy seem fresher. They have less sugar, salt, chemical preservatives, and are in more of their natural state than what Americans have become accustomed and have readily available. Their "fast food" is more about freshness than convenience. Fried foods are not as common and still taste fresh. Eating choices in Italy combined with much more walking appeared to me to be a healthier lifestyle overall.
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