A few thoughts on REAL Italian food

I´m afraid this post is not what you´d expect. Before I start I have to put a little disclaimer upfront. I´m an extremely picky eater, I´m almost vegetarian (I only eat chicken breast once a week) and basicly dislike all the fancy food, seafood and other delicacies that other people adore. I´m not a foodie and this is simply my personal opinion on the traditional Italian foods and restaurants, an opinion which I know most of you will not share.

Italian food is probably the most popular and beloved cuisines in the world. In the last few years I´ve made several trips to Italy (boyfriend is Italian ;) and like probably most of you would, I was always looking forward to the amazing dishes I would eat. I´ve been to Italy probably about 10 times and my disappointment has just grown bigger and bigger each time I´ve visited. Italian food to me is amazing cold tomato soup with parmesan sprinkles, countless startes I can hardly choose from, rich gnocchi quattro formaggi, lush salads and amazing deserts and gelatos. The truth is, if you are not eating meat or fish your choices are VERY limited when you go out to a real Italian trattoria.... (and don´t even get me started on the looks I get when I tell someone I´m vegetarian... most of the times they look at me like I´m a weird UFO)

My biggest disappointment is probably on the antipasti arena. Tomato soup doesn´t exist, some starters I do like are some of the cheeses they usually serve, but after some tales of some worms in some of these cheeses which is supposingly gives them their good taste... I`ve decided NO THANKS! I usually resert to some grilled vegetables which is just that... vegetables soaked in olive oil and grilled without usually any additional spices.... meeehhhh

Pastas.... I´m probably very unlucky. It has to be it, but although I normally eat pastas when we eat out, I´ve yet to find an amazing pasta I can tell tales about. I had a short love affair with a truffle filled ravioli served in a nut sauce but shortly after I´ve discovered it, they took it off the menu... this clearly describes how my and Italians taste do not match when it comes to food. 

Chicken... I´ve yet to find an Italian restaurant which serves any kind of chicken! NO KIDDING!

Pizza... I´ve had some good pizzas I´m not gonna deny it, but nothing outstanding that I couldn´t find outside of Italy.

Salads... sure you can order a mixed salad but there is certainly no variety.... rocket salad, tomatoes and a little mozarella served with oil and balsamico. (no other choice of dressings)

Desserts... OK me and Italian desserts are still friends, but then again I´m an ice cream addict so I could live on gelato alone and I have to give it to them... they know how to do their craft!

My biggest down in the appreciation of the Italian kitchen came a few days ago.... we were looking to have breakfast at a little buffet where it turned out that the most popular sandwich which most of the people in the queue ordered (and there was a queue for it!) was filled with horse meat. I´m choking just writing this down. While I was watching my friends enjoying their horse meat sandwich I started to cry. I´m not into riding, I´ve never been emotionally attached to a horse, but this sent shivers through my spine. To me eating a horse is like eating a dog. I´m not trying to judge anyone, it´s certainly a cultural thing and a dish that many many Italians and foreigners enjoy but I just couldn´t stop crying. I know I know it´s silly!

Overall even my picky Italian boyfriend agrees that Italian food is better outside of Italy! It must be the fusion of the kitchens or the fact that traditional Italian restaurants are.... well... traditional, while it´s foreign countreparts put a modern spin on things and develop more innovative and healthy menus. 

I love Italian food and it will always be one of my favorite kitchens... just maybe outside of Italy. I wish I´d like seafood or could appreciate some of the supposingly amazing meats but that´s just not me.

Any comments? (be nice! ;)

Desert Heat

I haven´t felt real heat in the longest of time and I cannot even tell you how good it felt complaining about the almost 40C heat in the Sardinian "desert" during our roadtrip to Alghero. We spent our weekend discovering some of the superb open air discos by the beach (after a bottle of Limoncello I had the best time ever and danced until sunrise!!! ME!!! The anti party animal!), eating a lot of real Italian food (more on that later) and just trying to recover from the long nights by the pool. On our way back home we discovered this BEAUTIFUL little church literally in the middle of nowhere and we snapped a few pictures before we escaped back to our car and the good old air conditioning. I was wearing my absolute favorite gypsy summer dress by Twelfth St. by Cynthia Vincent (last seen here). 

Today I´m travelling back to Berlin for a quick pit stop before I fly to Dublin on Tuesday. I´m sad that my vacation flew away so fast but I´m excited for all the travels coming up in the next few weeks! ;)

Sardinian Wilderness

The other day we went on a little road trip through the mountains of Sardinia. For an island this hot, there is an amazing flora and fauna, lush forrests, quaint little rivers, cactus, flowers everything a beautiful island can offer.

The view from the hills is amazing... reminds me of pictures of Tuscany which I´ve yet to visit! ;)

We ventured into a little forrest to snap a few pictures. 

I was in the middle of "working it" for the camera when suddenly, out of nowhere Babe appeared...

Just moments before we were talking about the wild pigs that live in the area and how dangerous they can be. Needless to say I froze to death and was contemplating what to do in the event of a Babe attack. But seriously what would you do? Run away? Or maybe try to scare him away? Luckily he took a few good look at us and then disappeared back in the wilderness as quickly as he appeared. 

We found this amazing view point overlooking the harbour of Santa Maria something... Sardinia is really a gorgeous island and even though it´s almost two weeks that I´m here I feel like we haven´t seen anything yet. It makes me sad that in a few short days we have to leave but hey... I guess it only means we need to come back soon right? ;)

We´ll be going on another road trip today to visit some friends and dance the night away (let´s see how that goes... I haven´t been much of a party animal lately... or ever actually ;))

Have a wonderful weekend y´all!

La Marina

Bikini and Beach Dress - Yamamay, Sandals - Buffalo, Sunnies - Mango, Jewlry - from travels

It´s never been one of my fantasies to own a sailing boat or a yacht (thank goodness I save myself from a lot of disappointment ;D) but I do love to look at them from time to time on vacation. Walking around in a beautiful marina filled with obscenely gorgeous boats, I can´t help but wonder the history of these beauties. Where are they coming from? Who owns them? Where do they go with it? It´s almost like people watching just better, like an exciting game of Cluedo.  Have you ever been on a boat like that? Once I´d love to take a daytrip on one of these just to see what the hype is all about, but until then I just hang around in the marina admiring these sea princesses. Ahoy!

Do Nothing

Sardinia is still treating me wonderfully. I don´t remember the last time I slept so much and done nothing for so long. Yes, I do travel a lot but normally my trips are full of meetings, sightseeings and work, I honestly don´t remember the last time I had a do-nothing vacation. I didn´t know how much I needed to recharge my batteries. The last few months´ business planning, studying and shooting has taken a toll on me and I feel like I´m sleeping through most of my vacation, but oh well... as long as it´s under a sunbrella on the beach with the sea touching my toes while frozen grapes melt in my mouth who cares right? I´m so happy I have one more week here... I think I´ll resurface as a new person full of energy and a fab new tan! ;)

Mediterranean Sunset

Flower Romper - c/o Romwe, Bossi Camera Bag - c/o THEIT, Hat - Claire´s, Golden Sandals - H&M

I´m really loving my time in Sardinia so far. The last time I was here (see this post) was in October, the island was almost empty, cold and we even experienced the only ice rain of the decade. How lucky! Now it´s quite the opposite. I couldn´t ask for a better weather, it´s really hot, but cool breeze lingers in the air, there are a lot of things going on and there are a lot of people but not in a can´t-find-a-place-for my-towel-on-the-beach kind of way. And the beaches... oh these beaches.... I truly believe that Sardinia is the Caribbean of Europe! White sand, crytal clear turqouise water, pure bliss! I´d probably add a few more palm trees, just to complete the perfect beach feeling, but I´m definitely not complaining. I wish I could send you a little bit of my sunshine for the weekend! Have a good one! ;)

Greetings from Sardinia!

Sand on my toes, salt on my skin, wind in my hair, fruits in my belly. Lounging under palm trees, cooling with some ice coffee, nights in the marina, loving Sardinia! I haven´t realized how much I´ve missed real summer until I got here... I could hardly imagine a more perfect vacation so far!