Europe 2010: Mykonos

Posted by Katie

Aside from Barcelona, Mykonos was by far my favorite place we visited. I mean, how could you not love a place as beautiful as Mykonos?

 

And, as if the scenery weren't amazing enough, the food was soooo good.

Nick and I had our first of two lunches (that's right, two) at a small kebab place located somewhere within Mykono's winding streets.

I wanted a lamb gyro, but unfortunately the lamb had not arrived yet that day, so we had to wait. At least we had this little beggar for company:

Even better, when the lamb finally did arrive, it arrived in this:

And it was definitely worth the wait. So tender and perfectly flavored. And the pita it was wrapped in was soft and deliciously doughy, a perfect complement to the lamb, tomatoes, lettuce, french fries and tzatziki sauce (yogurt with cucumber, dill and garlic) that it held.

For our second lunch, we ate at a cafe by the harbor. This was the view from our table:

After perusing the menu, I decided to try the moussaka, which I had never tried before. Well, found my new favorite Greek dish. 

It reminded me of lasagna, but with potatoes and eggplant instead of lasagna noodles and creamy béchamel sauce on top instead of mozzarella. Even though I had already eaten that first lunch, I didn't have any problems finishing my second one.

Nick decided to try the "Greek Plate 1" which had pieces of pita, tzatziki sauce, moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, a meatball, and french fries. All very tasty too.

Needless to say, we left Mykonos fat and happy. And the island is definitely on my list of places that I'd like to return to.

Also, here's a picture of the giant pelican that hangs out around Mykonos and serves as its unofficial mascot. His name is Petros.

Coming up next: More about The Ruby Princess

Europe 2010: Capri

Posted by Katie

I went to Capri when I was on my Italy trip in high school and while I remembered that the island was very beautiful, my main memory was of the amazing gelateria that I found there (surprise, surprise).

I had been chattering to Nick probably nonstop about how we HAD to go back, so imagine my disappointment when I found out that our day-long tour of Sorrento, Pompeii, and Capri would not end in Capri like we thought, but would instead start there. Would my gelateria even be open?!?

Luckily for us, it was! And even though we were probably the only people on the island eating gelato at 10am, it was definitely worth the odd stares we got as the gelato was just as good as I remembered.

I was worried that I might not be able to find my way back to R. Buonocore, but, not only is it on the main drag, the delectable scent of the freshly-made cones makes this gelateria hard to miss.

True to form, I got stracciatella while Nick tried the equivalant of mint chocolate chip. Glamour shot necessary:

I know right?

Believe it or not, R. Buonocore's gelato is not Capri's only culinary delight. Both Capri and Sorrento are known for their limoncello, a lemon liqueur. Nick and I tried samples of some cheap limoncello at a souvenir store and it was horrible, but I have a feeling that if you got the good stuff, it would be pretty enjoyable.

Limoncello is traditionally made with humongous Sorrento lemons (see them hanging in the photo above?), but if you want to make your own limoncello, regular lemons will do just fine. Here's Giada De Laurentiis's very simple recipe. Thinking I might try it out after my lavender infusion is ready...

Anyway, as it turned out, the gelato on Capri was the food highlight of the day. Our tour-sponsored group lunch in Sorrento was pretty nasty and the lemon soda that Nick tried in Pompeii was barely potable. Oh well...at least I got my gelato!

Up next: I discover moussaka on the very picturesque Mykonos

Europe 2010: Rome

Posted by Katie

In Rome, with no Rick Steves or friendly tour guide to make suggestions, we were faced with lunch on our own. We made a rule after a bad experience in Barcelona that we could not just stop at the first restaurant we found, that we needed to shop around a bit before deciding where to eat. This rule may sound easy to follow, but when you're hungry, ok when I'm hungry, I can be a little hard to reason with.

Luckily, Nick stood his ground and after wandering the streets just across the river from Vatican City, we finally decided on a little place packed with locals that can only be described as a convenience store/pizzeria. I know, sounds a bit off-putting but the pizza looked amazing...

...and tasted amazing too, despite the fact that it was heated up in a microwave circa 1972. Upon being warmed up, each huge piece was folded up and wrapped in wax paper, for easy on-the-go eating.

My piece was topped colorful roasted peppers (called peperoni in Italy) and Nick's had tasty bits of sausage with peppers and onions. We enjoyed our pizza on a park bench in the company of some very persistent pigeons.

Of course, we also had to indulge in some gelato during our stop in Rome. Check out Nick's great multitasking skills:

That time, Nick tried amarena, sweet cream gelato with candied sour cherries, and I went with frutti di bosco, a mix of "fruits of the forest" like blackberries and blueberries. Very refreshing.




Next up: Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii

Europe 2010: Florence

Posted by Katie

After our morning tour in Florence, our tour group was let loose to have lunch and explore the city on our own for the rest of the afternoon. Our tour guide pointed out a restaurant in the Piazza Santa Croce called Boccadama that her and her fellow tour guides like to eat at, so we figured it had to be pretty good.

Boccadama is definitely tourist-oriented (check out the fancy English website linked above) but I would have to say that our meal there was the best of our trip.

We started out with the Bruschetta al Pomodoro (5 euro). Very fresh and delicious.

Nick had Spaghetti "Don Vito" (9 euro) for his main course. Fresh pasta with tomato sauce and traditional meatballs. So, so good.

For my main course, I considered trying something new, but then I decided I'd go with my old standby of Spaghetti alla Bolognese (8 euro) so I could compare. It was some of the best bolognese I've ever had. I finished my plate of spaghetti before Nick did, and that never happens. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We also had some Chianti with our meal which was quite good as well. Too bad I can't remember what kind it was...

So you probably want to see a picture of us enjoying our amazing meal, right? Right.

And even though we were soooo stuffed afterward, it was our first day in Italy so you know we had to get gelato.

Stracciatella (strah-cha-TEL-lah) is my very favorite. It's like chocolate chip but so much better because they usually make it by drizzling chocolate over sweet cream gelato and then mixing the chocolate in when it hardens. Yum.

Coming up next: tasty convenience store pizza in Rome