Italy family trip: Some of our favorite eats

Rome

Avoid tourist menus, they say. It was definitely easier to stick around the big landmarks and eat in the historical center, but our favorite places were away from the multitudes where “menu turistico” is considered an abomination.

We found out about the Testaccio area the day before we left Rome and we literally went to town. Testaccio is a foodie’s dream where you come to eat real Roman food, with real Rome locals, made by real Romans.

Links: Pasticceria Barberini in Testaccio, Gelateria Millenium, Mordi e Vai.

Venice

Venice is the most beautiful, picturesque and unique place I’ve ever seen. It’s magical and mesmerizing. I heard about the Venetian rat-swimmers, the rotten smells of the canals and the mediocre overpriced food. All myths, except for the food.

We were deliberately ripped off almost everywhere–but I didn’t care. Venice is Venice. Even still, we managed to eat some traditional specialties and have some euros left to spare on gelato.

Links: Trattoria alla Madonna, Gelatoteca Suso

Florence

Florence is simply beautiful. The art. The Duomo. The history. The food. It seems practically impossible to have bad food in Florence. Maybe we got lucky–which makes me love Florence even more– because anywhere the tourists outnumber the locals the odds are stacked against you.

My short love affair with Florence started at first bite. Call me crazy but all the Michelangelos and Boticellis had nothing on the Fiorentine food.

Link: Acqua al 2

Somedays we were just too tired, too hot, too cranky and we ate dinner in our Airbnb home! Shopping local ingredients and prepping some of our meals was one of the highlights of this trip to me. Sure Italy was memorable but nothing made me happier than sitting at the dinner table after an adventurous day, sharing memories and food with the people I love the most!

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