Viva l'Italia! (Part 5 - THE FOOD)

Ok folks, now for what you've all been waiting for...THE FOOD. Because what is a trip to Italy without loads of delicious food??

Rachel's first meal in Italy: prosciutto e melone (ham slices and melon...that sounds kind of gross in English).

My first meal: a margherita pizza.

Gelato! For those who aren't aware, gelato is like ice cream but more creamy, more delicious, and more better.

Gelato in a brioche! (Gelato in a sweet roll.)

Arancini (or arancine if you're from Palermo) - deep fried rice balls filled with cheeses, ragus, and other deliciousness.

La cioccolata - Italian hot chocolate, thick and dark.

One of the few disgusting things you'll find in Italy--Chinotto is truly an acquired taste.

Nutella...............

Perhaps the most cost-effective meal we ate in Italy, and it's a lot more interesting than it looks. That far thing is a calzone, the middle thing is filled with mozzarella and salame piccante, and that one with a bit missing is filled with wurstel.

Behold: the most delicious pizza in the world, the Ferrari. Toppings include: tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, gorgonzola, salame piccante (their pepperoni equivalent), bruschetta, speck, parmesan cheese, fresh origano (who am I kidding, all the ingredients are fresh), and pepperoncini oil.

More gelato. That dark stuff is basically chilled nutella.

Eating pizza on our hotel balcony in Taranto.

Focaccia! Delicious bread, salted and spiced and olive oiled, with fresh tomatoes and olives cooked on top.

Panzerotti! Basically, deep-fried calzones.

Una frappe--an Italian milkshake.

The most delicious focaccia in the world, in Bari...

...from none other than the Paneficio Fiore.

Pasta alla carbonara in Rome.

Pasta all'arrabiata, also in Rome.

We had gelato at least once a day. Usually twice. And, one time, thrice.

Tartufo - a delicious dark Italian chocolate cake thingy.

Eating dinner in Rome across the piazza from the Pantheon.

Bruschetta! Check out that basil....

Gnocchi and ragu.

More carbonara.

More cioccolata italiana.

Fruit! Fresh fruit everywhere!

Eating dinner by the sea in Monterosso al Mare.

Pesto genovese.

Fish ravioli with shrimp and zucchini.

Pesce di spada! (Swordfish!)

Focaccia in Milan...but let's be honest, nobody does it like they do in Bari.

Perhaps the most delicious gelato I had while in Italy, drizzled with nutella.

Sipping chocolate...basically melted chocolate in a cup.

The only thing I remember about this meal is that it was far and away the most expensive meal we ate in Italy.

These shoes are made of chocolate. These. Shoes. Are. Made. Of. CHOCOLATE.

Last pizza in Italy--that's mozzarella burrata, basically a hyper-creamy, buttery mozzarella.

That's it, everyone. To sum up: Rachel and I went to Italy, saw a million cool things, ate a billion delicious things, and had lots of fun. It was amazing and we're already planning a return trip. The end.