Jessica's Food Review
On this day, we were running around Venice, sight-seeing, on guided tours I found that could make a person very hungry! We found the perfect place to relax and grab a little bite to eat. It was really cold outside, but very beautiful here! I loved the scenery here. Friggitoria Pizzeria Trattoria al Gazebo was a very cozy restaurant and had reasonable pricing for food. There were beautiful pictures on the wall and I loved the mirroring behind our table. I enjoyed the music and the warmth of this place. This pizza, I forget the real name of it, (hot salami) was the best pizza I had while in Italy. I could see that it was made in a brick oven in the back part of the restaurant. I was stunned at the fact of getting my very own pizza to myself. I didn’t know what to expect because I’m accustomed to the mini personal pan pizzas in America. This pizza was exactly as I expected, if not better than what I expected authentic Italian pizza to be. There weren’t many “regular” glasses or cups at the restaurants here. We all got wine or champagne glasses. I felt a little funny not drinking wine in glasses like those! The service here was awesome. I left our waiter a nice little tip for his kindness and generosity. Not far from here was a fruit stand; they had some of the best strawberries I’ve ever tasted and I don’t even eat strawberries like that! The food in Venice was wonderful.
I think I loved this restaurant most because most of us ate together here and we enjoyed the great food, service and each other’s laughter and company. When you eat with people, it brings out another side of that person (which could be good or bad). I got to see my classmates and faculty members in a different light. It was amazing!
We had very limited time Rome; we were near St. Peter’s square and I was getting kind of hungry! This was our second time visiting this restaurant, Il Colonnato, in one day! After our usual and routine bathroom stops, I went around and spotted something I wanted. I asked the server if this gelato (ice cream) was vanilla or banana, and he told me it was vanilla—or so I thought! I started eating it and it was banana! This gelato made me think about some candy I had eaten as a child…maybe it was Now or Laters or Laffy Taffy! I had lots of nostalgic memories and moments here, but this is the first one I had with food. I think I paid 4€ for this gelato, a bit pricier than the first gelato I tried the first day. It was a good choice, no matter the flavor or the price. It may have been cold outside, but it’s never too cold to have gelato! I think this was the best gelato I tasted.
I found this restaurant/cafeteria to be very interesting. I think I found almost every place we ate at to be interesting in the fact of nothing came as a “combo” like here in America, and I honestly missed the Southern hospitality that the South shares to all people. There was an ongoing trend for most everyone in our group to eat Pringles, they cost 2€ and the machine wouldn’t take the 2€ coin. I had to go to the cashier to get some change for smaller Euros. Once I got change, everything worked out great with this little tricky machine! It was a little taste of America while abroad. I was glad to get to sit down for a little while. I took as many breaks as possible! :-)