#12 Don't always take their word for it

When you stroll into Olive Garden for a family outing, you expect a taste of Italy, right? Zip through Fazoli's and pick up some delicious Italian goodness. "Italian food" has always been one of my favorites. I have always enjoyed lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, ravioli, spaghetti, pepperoni calzones, and pizza. I fully expected those dishes in Italy, only BETTER...because I'm in Italy.

You hear people say "Italy has the best food ever"...don't always take their word for it. I might be the most picky eater in the word, and I am probably just used to the Americanized versions of "Italian food," but - don't hit me - I really don't care for the food here. To make my point evident, here are some examples of authentic Italian meals straight from Rome and my kind-of-harsh opinions on them (don't think I'm a pessimist, but as already mentioned, I'm really picky...).

My first meal in Rome was only 3 Euros. It wasn't that
bad, and it had bacon in it, so I was pretty happy. It did,
however, make me worry about the food here and how
much I was going to like it...

This was pretty good pasta with red sauce, and I
didn't have to pay for it because Jeremy bought
everyone's food. I'm not complaining about this one!

Ham and cheese on bruscetta. The bread was soggy
(I think they soaked it in broth or something) and
I'm very picky about ham. I could only eat
two of these. EEEEEW. I was definitely my second least
favorite dish here.

Carbonara is probably one of the better things I have had here,
but it doesn't have much taste to me. Jeremy suggested I get
this because I was craving some alfredo. (They don't have alfredo
here...nothing even close! Why do Italian restaurants serve
it in America?) It had a "white sauce" which is probably the
closest thing I could get to alfredo. It wasn't close,
but it was pretty good and it did have lots of cheese! Mmm.

I decided to get daring on one of my more recent meals.
We went to a Chinese restaurant. I wasn't really sure what to order
because I had no idea what anything looked like;
thank you American Chinese restaurants for putting pictures
on your menus. I got BBQ chicken...it looked
just like Zach's "spicy chicken" so I am suspicious as to whether
it is not the same dish with a different name. I did, however, pick out
all the chicken and drench it in soy sauce.

This takes the cake as the worst dish I've had here. And I really
tried to eat it! It was spinach lasagne...and it was the most
appetizing thing on the menu...EW.

This was a ham and cheese panini from a really cheap place. It was
pretty bland and almost tasted burnt, but it wasn't terrible and it was
probably worth the money.

This panini is THE best thing I've had here and I think I paid
2.50 Euro for it from a street vendor on my way home from
the Colosseo. It had spicy salami, so it tasted almost like pepperoni.
(They don't have pepperoni in Rome! "Peperoni" here means pepper.)

This potato pizza was very bland, kind of like eating soggy crackers with
sliced potatoes on them. Okay, that was over-exaggerated,
but I didn't like it very much. Like most other pizzas here, it didn't
have sauce, and didn't have enough cheese for my taste. I love cheese.

This was carbonara, too, and it didn't have much of a taste.
It was pretty good. If you like noodles with a little bit of
parmesian, you'd like it.

Now, these...these are the exceptions: pastries, tiramisu, and gelato. I will REALLY miss these.

Nothing pastry-wise tastes this good at home. Chocolate cornettos.
YUMMMMM! 

I will miss my favorite pastry shop right down the street.

I will definitely miss authentic tiramisu.

And I will miss gelato.

...Especially chocolate-covered gelato.

I know I just complained a lot, but I really do miss the food back home including our "Italian food" with pepperonis and alfredo. I'm pretty sure I've lost 10 pounds between smaller meals and walking so much.

I'm worried I will gain it all back when I get home because I began to comprise a list of things I want when I get back to the states. I soon realized the list was basically a list of my favorite foods. Upon my arrival in the states, I will soon have the following:

• 1 soft taco supreme with no lettuce or tomato and 1 Doritos locos taco supreme with no lettuce or tomato from Taco Bell
• El Patio beef nachos
• Fazoli's breadsticks
• My granny's chicken and dumplings
• Steak and A1 sauce
• Shell macaroni and cheese
• A pepperoni calzone
• A scrambled egg sandwich
• Loaded baked potato
• Biscuits
• A soft pretzel with salt and mustard
• Sesame chicken from Sakura

Mmmmmm. We've got it made in America when it comes to food choices! Can't wait to get back to eat some good ole southern cookin'...Taco Bell, here I come!