Olga's Flavor Factory

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
  • olgasflavorfactory@gmail.com
  • //instagram.com/olgasflavorfactory
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
  • olgasflavorfactory@gmail.com
  • //instagram.com/olgasflavorfactory
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
×
Home » Recipe Index » Miscellaneous » Life/Family

Trip To Italy

Published: Jul 1, 2013 · Modified: Jan 2, 2014 by Olga · This post may contain affiliate links

Sergi and I recently celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend and to share life with the man who I respect and admire, who loves me and makes me feel cherished every day. I always say that Sergi is my gift from God and I am more convinced of it the more we are married.

Here we are, June 18, 2006
Here we are, June 18, 2006

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you already know that we decided to spend this anniversary in Italy. We both love to travel and it is one of our dreams to travel all around the world. IMG_3974 (333x500)We went for a week and visited Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice and Milan. We bought a package for a classic tour of Italy, which included travel by bus from city to city. 

It was incredible and really humbling to walk down the streets of a country that has such a rich history. The architecture is truly magnificent and worth seeing. So many times I felt like pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The smartest thing that we did was take another week of vacation after our travels. Ha ha! There was so much to see and we didn't want to miss any of it. It was certainly exhausting to wake up every day at 6:30 and spend hours and hours walking and touring the many cities that we visited.

Rome
The Vatican
Inside the Vatican
St. Peter's Basilica
This is where the Pope preaches
River in downtown Rome
Famous stairs, which many people climbed on their knees, believing that it would give them favor with God
The Colosseum
Look how tiny I am compared to the massive Colossuem
The gates the once were the entrance into Rome
Isn't this an amazing picture illustrating the ancient and the modern world in one picture?
Stopping at a small town on the way to Florence
Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Cathedral in Florence
Streets of Florence
Enjoying some strawberries that we bought at a market
Riverside in Florence
Cooling off with some smoothies, water and A/C
Dinner served Renaissance style
Venice, city on the water
The only way to get to Venice is by boat
Venice is completely on water. All the buildings are on water. The only way to get around is by gondola or on foot.
Gondola ride
Venice consists of many small islands and buildings that are connected by small bridges like this one.
Relaxing next to the water
Venice
Ancient city walls of Milan
Mussolini had this fountain built as a present for his daughter on her wedding day. It is called "The Wedding Cake Fountain".
Milan is preparing for a worldwide fashion expo.
This guy was carving out flowers out of carrots and beets.
Cathedral in Milan. It reminded me of a palace.
Shopping center in Milan.
Relaxing in our hotel
Milan

Now I know you're probably wondering about the food. This IS a food blog, after all. I don't know how many times people told us that we were so lucky that we would be tasting authentic Italian food. In America, Italian food is probably the most popular and most dearly loved cuisine. I most certainly agree. Quite frankly, I was expecting to dedicate an entire post or two about all the delicious food I would taste. I even took a small notebook to carry in my purse and take notes so I wouldn't forget anything.

The food was a letdown, to be sure. At first we thought it was because we probably just  happened upon a few restaurants that were not the greatest. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinners in at least 7 different cities and towns, and we didn't notice any difference in the quality of the food. For example, not one single restaurant served freshly grated cheese. We were simply served fake Parmesan with a bunch of additives from the infamous plastic can, that was served in a container with a spoon. You can't fool me:). I know the difference between real Parmesan and the other "stuff". They rarely ever even used fresh herbs. I was really hoping to try some homemade pasta, but alas, not one restaurant served us pasta that wasn't boiled from the box. Anyway, for the most part the food was very bland and under seasoned. I'm sorry to say, but it reminded me of cafeteria food. It was much pricier than here in America, so it wasn't because we weren't willing to spend money on quality food. We researched for "best places to eat in Rome", we asked locals for their favorite places to eat, we tried many different places, but it was all the same. We tried paying more than $100 for a meal, but even that food was disappointing in quality.

We did find great quality ingredients, though. I bought authentic Parmesan cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, etc. We had many tasting throughout our trip and I was always so excited to try these Italian delicacies. It's just a shame that Italian restaurants don't use those phenomenal ingredients in their cooking. Most likely Italian families cook great food in their homes, but since we don't have the privilege of being personally acquainted with an Italian family who would invite us over for dinner, we didn't get to experience that.

In a small deli in one of the little towns that we visited
Hazelnut gelato. Yum.
This was supposedly one of the best places to eat in Rome
Breakfast in our hotel
A food tasting. Salami, pecorino cheese, balsamic vinegar.
One of the street markets
Another deli shop. I was so happy to find Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
One of the many gelaterias in Italy. It seems like there were at least 3 gelaterias on each street in all the cities in Rome. It was such a refreshing treat on hot, summer days.
Parmesan cheese to garnish food

We didn't travel all the way to Italy for the food, of course, so we were still very happy with our overall experience.

The views of the countryside were absolutely stunning. I am most definitely a country girl at heart and felt so alive and my joy just bubbled over when we visited small towns, countryside villas, lakes and mountains. The cities felt too crowded and "touristy" to me, but that's to be expected.

The sights are so amazing, people from all over the world want to see it as well. Besides, how can you go to Italy and not see all the classic attractions?

Typical small town in Italy
Gorgeous view
Neat and beautiful gardens in the countryside
Nemi
On our last day, we took a train to Lake Como.
Lake Como
It was a sunny day with a really nice breeze, a perfect to our trip.

 

Both of us are so pleased that we finally made one of our dreams come true and visited the beautiful country of Italy. We took SO many incredible pictures and the memories we made will be with us for the rest of our lives. The best part of the trip was spending time with each other, every single moment of every single day.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

More Life/Family

  • Christmas Gift Ideas For the Home Cook
  • Christmas Gift Ideas For Kids
  • Life in Tampa Bay Florida
  • Kitchen Tour

Comments

  1. Belosnezhka says

    July 13, 2015 at 3:22 am

    Hi,Olga! How can I find you on Facebook?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      July 15, 2015 at 12:41 am

      https://www.facebook.com/OlgasFlavorFactory

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Olga in the kitchen

Welcome!

Hello. I’m Olga, the creator and photographer of the recipes that you see here. Welcome to my online kitchen, where I share step by step recipes and kitchen tips, to make homemade cooking easier, practical, and of course, more flavorful.

More about me

Get Weekly Menu Ideas, Recipes, Kitchen Hacks:

Join thousands of others to get my best cooking and meal prep tips plus handpicked seasonal menu ideas in your email.

Olga's Flavor Factory ebooks bundle
Olga's Ebooks
Olga's Flavor Factory family 2024
Life/Family

Popular

  • Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs
  • Limoncello Cake
  • Easy Homemade Bread Recipe
  • Ultimate Steelhead Trout Recipe (VIDEO)

Seasonal

  • Healthy Cabbage Salad
  • Fish and Vegetables En Papillote (Fish in Parchment)
  • Borscht - Борщ
  • Orange Salad

Footer

↑ back to top

The Home Cook's Handbook

A Practical Kitchen Resource Guide

Learn more
Buy now

Get Weekly Menu Ideas, Recipes, Kitchen Hacks:

Join thousands of others to get my best cooking and meal prep tips plus handpicked seasonal menu ideas in your email.

About

  • About
  • Starting A Blog
  • FAQ
  • Olga’s Tips
  • Shop

Social Links

  • Instagram
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Olga's Flavor Factory