A Gelato a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Our first stop after the UK was northern Italy! We knew already that we wanted to go to Germany before leaving the continent. So, northern Italy was a great stopping point on the way. Flights there were cheap and Adam loves pasta. During our time there, we went to Milan (a huge city and very touristy), Verona (a smaller touristy town that was quieter and nicer), and Trento (a town in the valley of the Alps!).

There was beautiful architecture all around - huge churches, a Roman arena, pastel colored houses, cobble stoned streets, old bridges, etc.

We enjoyed some time hiking in nature and mountains in Trento.

Mostly, we consumed things. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Even the grocery stores had multiple isles of pasta - that's not just a stereotype. Pastries are everywhere in Italy. They even have croissants and macaroons laid out like a bakery at McDonalds! And, the pistachio nut is widely used. The flavor is so rich and wonderful compared to anything pistachio flavored in the USA.

A really cool experience we had was at a winery in Trento called Bailoni. We didn't realize that tastings had to be pre-booked. So, when we walked up to the doors, the men working there carrying barrels around at the family winery were not ready or expecting visitors. But, they still welcomed us for a completely private tasting and tour with the owner. He was so kind! He did not know any English but we communicated through words that sounded similar across English, Italian, Spanish, and German. And we used a lot of gestures. He gave us more wine than usually comes with a tasting. We ended up loving most of the wines we tried, and bought one of our favorite bottles.

Another really cool experience we had was at a hole in the wall restaurant in Verona (Osteria Da Morandin). It was a local place where they bring the chalk board menu to you at each table for you to order from. Thankfully, they had a translated paper version for us in English. We ordered half a liter of house red wine for $4, the horse stew, eggplant parmesan, tiramisu, and pistachio panna cotta. It was incredible. Clare didn't love the horse stew but Adam thought it tasted just like beef.

Probably the biggest highlight was the gelato. Our favorite place was La Berta Gelateria in Verona. We tried the strangest flavors expecting some to be bad, but each one was amazing. From flavors of marsala wine, chocolate eggplant, to ginger lime cheesecake, pistachio, blackberry ricotta, almond orange, everything was incredible. We got gelato every single day when we were in Italy. 

The only negative thing was the lack of predictability. Clare doesn't like how often stores/restaurants are closed for random reasons and at unexpected times. So, we expect our next stop of Germany to have things running more predictably and orderly! 

Bis Später!