Comments:

Food List and Research
This was my second trip to Europe. After reviewing my experiences from the first trip I realized that I had not fully experienced the cuisine. It was my goal not to deprive my stomach this trip and give it as much culinary exposure as possible. I studied recipe books, watched the Food Channel and learned as much Italian food vocabulary as possible. It paid off and I manage to taste everything on my food checklist.

Overall Breakfast Descriptions
Breakfast was provided by the hotel/pensions. This ranged from a light meal consisting of coffee, bread and cheese to a deluxe buffet with yogurts, cereals, meats, cheeses, breads, fruit, juices and crackers. I have not described the individual days.

Lunch and Dinner
Where possible I tried to get the Italian names and English descriptions for each food item. Some meals did not have menus so my eyes and taste buds have created the descriptions created. Dinner usually included dessert. If I didn't eat or taste it then it is not listed.

Wine Labels
I wish to thank my rotating roommates who put up with wine bottles soaking in the bathroom sinks. And thanks to tour group members who let me smuggle the bottles from the tables. I acquired over 20 labels during the trip. This does not include all wines sampled during the tour since several labels disintegrated during the soaking process. These labels fill out my journal and are a great reference.

Sharing and Tasting
I could not have tasted the variety of foods if it were not for great tour members who were tolerant and willing to share or provided me samples from their meals. Thank you all for broadening my travel experiences through food and conversation. Sharing by tour definition is splitting and swapping meal portions. Tasting is permission to use one's fork on another plate in order to spear food.

Stomach Rating

	my stomach can still remember eating this and my mouth waters thinking about it
	this was good and I am glad I had an opportunity to taste it
	this was quality food and satisfied my hunger, while not disappointed not on any hit list
	the worse meal I had in Italy - was unable to finish it and I was hungry

Day	Location - Meal	Food	Drink	Photo/Label
1.	Milan - breakfast
	Varenna - light lunch	Ravioli - with butter and sage (shared) Ravioli creamy parmesan tomato sauce(shared)	Tuborg Beer	PHOTO
	Varenna reception	Cheese, bread, grapes	Ca�Vive Piave Cabernet Canneto Oltrepo Pavese Barbera	LABEL LABEL
	Varenna - dinner	Crespelle ai fungi porcini (crepe with mushroom) Filetto di manzo alla griglia (grilled beef) Pesto gnocchi (tasted) Taramousse	Red Wine
2.	Varenna - breakfast
	Varenna - light lunch	Prosciutto with bread and butter, cappuccino
	Varenna - dinner	Nostrana (pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, sausage, olives (with pits), parmesan cheese and peppers) Calzone Farcito (tomato, mozzarella, ham, artichokes, and mushrooms)	Vino alla spina (red house wine)
3.	Varenna - breakfast
	Verona - light lunch	Gustavo (folded bread with mushroom and cheese)	Vino rosso (draft)
	Pension Seelaus - dinner	Buffet salad consisting of carrots, sauerkraut with caraway and ham; German style potato salad; a lima/kidney/onion/tuna mix; a creamy dressing (a white something with a hint of horseradish), and a lot more items butterfly pasta (basil, sausage, cream) Thin steak with green beans	Wine - Hauswappen Tafelwein	LABEL
4.	Pension Seelaus - breakfast
	Arnika Hutte - lunch	Kaisersehmarren con mirtilli rossi (fried pancake-like crepe topped with local berries)	Forst Beer
	Pension Seelaus - dinner	Buffet salad (see Day 3) Pasta tubes with tomato/zuccini/onion A ground meat with egg in the center with a caper sauce and rice on side	Merlot Sudtirol	LABEL
5.	Pension Seelaus - breakfast
	Verona - lunch	ham and cheese panini
	Venice - dinner	Salad Ravioli with tomato sauce Scalloped veal Tasted: liver and onions; polenta; spaghetti napiton Cantaloupe flavored ice	Beer - sans souri Beer -zipfer
6.	Venice - breakfast
	Venice - light lunch	Bratwurst sandwich	Cabernet franc venteto
	Happy hour in "the apartment"		Merlot isonzo del fruili Bardolino classico 2000	PHOTO LABEL LABEL
	Venice - dinner	Mussels Salad Raviolis Melon ice cream		PHOTO
7.	Venice - breakfast
	Lunch in route at autostrata	Cannelloni (fixed lasagne like) Salad (tuna, olives, mozzeralla)(shared)	House wine
	Florence - dinner	Salad Risotto with seafood (saw clams, octopus, squid, shrimp, whitefish, and mussels)	House red wine Evening wine - tocai fruilano 2000 angoris	LABEL
8.	Florence - breakfast
	Florence - lunch	Tortellini alla medici (cream, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes)	Wine - vino da tavola	LABEL
	Patio Happy hour	Crackers and cheese	Chianti 2000 rubentino Remole toscana	PHOTO LABEL
	Florence - dinner	Gnocchi ai procini e gamberetti (mushroom, shrimp, saffron, cream and tomoatoes) Tasted seafood spagetti, some kind of soup, risotto and more Gelato - caffe
9.	Florence - breakfast
	Lucca - lunch	Rice with squid, shrimp, tomato and spicy something (good choice just poor cooking)
	Monterosso - snack	Farinata (olive oil, cecci, water)
	Monterosso - dinner	Pesto lasagne Fish (mediterran whitefish) with white sauce and herbs	housewine sciacchetra (sherry-like wine)	PHOTO RECIPE LABEL
10.	Monterosso - breakfast
	Vernazza - lunch	Pesto lasagna	House wine	LABEL
	Happy Hour	Farinata (olive oil, cecci, water)	A variety of wines	LABEL
	Monterosso - dinner	Penne al salmone Shared pansotti in salsa di noci; carbonara; monterosso panino Gelato - berry
11.	Monterosso - breakfast
	Lunch in route at autostrada	Salad with tuna and egg

	Siena - dinner	Pesto lasagne Ossobuco con Fagioli all� Uccellotto (veal shank with beans) Rice with a thick meat sauce	White house wine	PHOTO
12.	Siena - breakfast
	Siena - Lunch	Pizza (just cheese and 1 slice)

	Siena - dinner	Tagliatelle porcini e panna (noodles with mushroom and cream sauce) Ossobuco con Fagioli all� Uccellotto (veal shank with beans) Tasted: Antipesto plate (eggplant, beans, marinated white onion, stuff yellow pepper); vitella tonne (cold veal in tuna sauce)	Red house wine
13.	Siena - breakfast
	Assisi - lunch	Panini (rosemary bread, cheese, salami, lettuce)	ice tea
	Pre-Dinner		Cinque terrra vendemmia 2000	LABEL
	Azienda agrituristica - dinner	Salami with toasted garlic bread Lasagna Chicken (duck?) with potato chunks	dessert wine	PHOTO
14.	Azienda agrituristica - breakfast
	Orvieto - lunch	Picnic with the works		PHOTO PHOTO
	Pre-Dinner		Orvieto 2000 Classico Amabile	LABEL

	Azienda agrituristica - dinner	Bread with olive/tomato/chopped something Risoot (chicken broth with chopped vegetables) Duck and green beans	House wine Dessert wine	PHOTO
15.	Azienda agrituristica - breakfast
	Pompeii - lunch	Salad Pizza	Soft Drink
	Patio Happy hour		Solaro vino da tavola	PHOTO
	Sorrento - dinner	Shared: antipasto misto Gnocchi sorrentino Tasted: risotto pescatora Shared: cotoletta alla Milanese (veal cutlet) Shared: salsiccia arrosto (italian sausage) Tasted: fagiolinial burro (green beans)	House Red Wine	PHOTO
16.	Sorrento - breakfast
	Sorrento - lunch	Salad Snack: Rice balls; mozzarella sticks
	Patio Happy hour		Lacrima Christi del Vesuvio - De Rosa	LABEL
	Sorrento - dinner	Shared: antipasto del Golfo Pesce Spada (fish) Minestrone soup Bistecca di Manzo (grilled steak) Tasted: Insalata Caprese (mozzarella and tomato salad)	House Wine	PHOTO LABEL
17.	Sorrento - breakfast
	Amalfi - lunch	Generic sandwich
	Happy Hour Wine in the Room		Chianti classico La Castellina	LABEL
	Rome - dinner (chinese)	Riso Bianco (white rice) Involtini Freschi (special spring roll) Ravioli al Vapore (steam dumpling) Pollo con Mandorle (chicken with almonds) Manzo in Salsa D�ostrica (oyster bed) Chinese rice cake (sliced with carrots) Gelato Fritto (fried ice cream) Bigne di Cocco (fried Coconut)	Beer
18.	Rome - breakfast
	Rome - lunch	at Hard Rock Cafe - spring rolls	Beer
	Happy Hour on Patio		a variety of wines	PHOTO PHOTO
	Rome - dinner (chinese)	Riso Bianco (white rice) Involtini Freschi (special spring roll) Pork with zazai Hao Hua mixed plate Chicken with green pepper Beef iron plate Hot and sour soup Bigne di Cocco (fried Coconut) Fried rice cantonese
19.	Rome - breakfast
	Rome - lunch snack	Rice Balls

	Rome - dinner	Stuffed zucchini flowers, stuffed green olive, tomatoes over toast Pasta noodles with cream sauce Quarter of chicken with cubed potatoes Gelato - coffee flavor	House wine	PHOTO PHOTO
20.	Rome - breakfast
	Airplane - Lunch & Dinner

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