You Haven’t Eaten Real Italian Food Until You Have Eaten This

It was 2001. I was 20 years old and Italy was cheese pizza and the occasional pasta. The food was an absolute let down after my love of everything Italian had brought me so far. Italy was still by far my most favourite place in the world, but its food was dreadful.

Fast forward to 2013. I am back in Italy with my family and my parents. It’s a dream come true and this time I want the dream to be well rounded. I want to experience true Italian food and thank God I found a way.

Eating Italy is on a mission to provide people with a real Taste of Rome. And to me a 4-hour guided food tour sounded like the best way to do that.

We started our day meeting at a winery in Testaccio. Testaccio is famous for an artificial hill made out of broken clay vessels from the Tiber River trade that occurred way back in the day, but it’s reputation is also widely expanding as a local culinary hub of Rome.

Our very knowledgeable guide introduced our group to everyone. And then we began. It was walking with pit stops so if you have young kids, make sure you bring the pram/stroller.

Want to know what we ate? I know you do. So I’ll give you a quick guide so you can enjoy a virtual food tour of local Italian.

1st Stop – Barberini Pastry Shop

Cornetti & Tiramisu Chocolate Cups

Talk about starting the tour off with a bang. I am not one for coffee, actually can’t stand the stuff, but these little tiramisu chocolate cups were delicious and a perfect size. The cornetti is the Italian version of a croissant. These were crunchy, very buttery and uber yummy.

2nd Stop – Volpetti Gourmet Food Store

Parmigiano Cheese, Prosciutto, Salami & Aged Balsamic Vinegar

One of my favourite stops, although the sample sizes were too small for my liking I would could have eaten much more. We tried different deli meats and cheeses from petite gold plates. Afterwards we were given a little free time inside and had the opportunity to try various aged balsamic vinegars. My favourite was the 10 years, Josh loved the 12. I still wish we had bought a bottle! This taste was simply life-changing.

3rd Stop – Volpetti Piu

Pizza Margherita

You cannot have an Italian food tour without pizza and this one came with the history of pizza. Originally made in Naples as a poor person’s food in the 1700’s, it didn’t leave its city limits for a very long time, but finally made it’s way in the early 1900’s to New York where it took off. In fact, pizza only reached Rome in the 1940’s due to soldiers posted there bringing it from Naples.

We tried the traditional Margherita, named after an Italian queen in 1889, and it left us drooling and wanting more. Crispy wood-fired base with simple, classic, quality toppings. Probably the best pizza I had in Italy. It’s easy to see why considering there are over 5300 pizzerias in Rome, and this place is ranked #3.

4th Stop – Testaccio Market

Bruschetta, Caprese Salad & Cannoli

A walk through the market was interesting. Our tour guide knew a number of the stalls personally and stopped to chat along the way. She also revealed the ancient grounds the market is built on. Fascinating!

During our tour locals had prepared a beautiful tomato salad, which was carried to a local baker and planted on fresh bread to make bruschetta. I don’t actually like tomatoes, and my husband found it very simple, true Italian style. He is a fan of the more elaborate bruschetta with more toppings.

The caprese salad was prepared with the same tomato salad and at the local cheese store freshly-made buffalo mozzarella was added. Josh fell in love with that cheese.

Since the salad was not my cup of tea you can imagine my absolute delight when we stopped at the Dess’Art famous Sicilian pastry chef’s stall for a sample of cannoli. It was delicious and one member of our party, after finishing his sample size, couldn’t resist and decided to go for the real big size. As much as I love a sweet treat I found the sample size much more my style and was quite content.

Sightseeing

During the tour we managed a few sightseeing destinations. We visited a cemetery where the Bulgari family has a spot saved for one member of their family, very nice. We saw huge pyramid tomb, which was built for a wealthy Roman man. He actually died before it was finished and never ended up finishing paying for it. Anyway the reason it stuck in our minds was because his name was the same as my son’s – Caius.

5th Stop – Flavio Al Velavevodetto

3 pasta dishes – Cacio e pepe, Amatriciana & Carbonara

After walking through some of the sites of the city we stopped at this restaurant underneath the ceramic hill. Yes, we ate lunch under the dump. We got to try 3 pasta dishes. It was good to finally actually have something more substantial as all the starters were driving my appetite insane.

Our preference is for more Western style pasta, which is cooked longer and has many flavours. The Italian al-dente with minimal toppings was not the best pasta we have ever had, but the atmosphere in the restaurant was wonderful.

So wonderful in fact that one of the members of our party couldn’t hold it in any longer and popped the question right there at the table. Witnessing a proposal in Italy was so romantic and that it was from fellow Aussies had us all cheering.

6th Stop – 00100 Pizza

Arancini Balls

After all that pasta it was hard to squeeze in an Arancine Ball, but I’m glad I did. These balls were delicious. We were served half each and that was enough for me. Probably one of the best rice balls I’ve ever tasted. Rice and cheese fried in breadcrumbs with tomato paste, how could you go wrong? All those ingredients are a recipe for happiness.

7th Stop – Giolitti

Gelato

Of course you can only finish an Italian eating tour with gelato. We learnt the differences between the fake stuff and the real stuff and got to try 2 delicious flavours each. There was some confusion on how many scoops our family received since the kids weren’t actually included in the tour.

Please double check when booking for kids if they are included in the food tasting or if you will be sharing your portions, cause when it came to gelato – no one wanted to share. 

Despite the mix up with the kids we actually really enjoyed learning about the local Italian food. It was some of the best food we enjoyed on the entire journey and I am so thankful to realize Italy was not a huge food disappointment after all.

Eating Italy has a few different tours you can do in Rome running at different times of the day. Make sure you have a tiny breakfast the day your tour is running, cause we were pretty full after our tour and did not even manage dinner that night.  

On Top of the World at Hotel Margherita, Praiano

It required a bit of courage, a touch of daredevil and a dash of insanity.  But finally we had driven through Positano and traversed the narrow road towards to the top of Praiano and reached our destination – Hotel Margherita.

Getting out of the car, we could quickly see why the Amalfi Coast is regarded as one of the most spellbinding locations on this amazing planet. The view took our breath away. Well, it was either that or the altitude.

Hotel Margherita is a family-owned boutique hotel nestled on the side of a mountain overlooking the town of Praiano and the spectacular coastline. It’s easy to see why visitors from all over the world flock to this area and we were fortunate enough to snap up a triple classic room with a terrace on the lemon garden. It was the perfect place to sit back and relax with a cool drink, and soak up the wafting lemon scent.

The staff had setup a cot for Caius, and even though it’s been a while since he’s slept in one I thought it would be a good idea to give Mia some extra space in her own bed so they’d both sleep more soundly. And he didn’t seem to mind at all. The room was well-equipped with an authentically styled bathroom.

Opposite our room was located the gym which looked over the spectacular coastline so you could take a morning walk and admire the view at the same time. Nice.

Each morning breakfast was hosted downstairs in the restaurant, which served delightful classic Italian fare including cornetti, expertly made cappuccino, fresh fruit, eggs, toast and juice.

A friendly staff member brewed up a hot chocolate for Mia with a cute smiley face on top. That put a big grin on Mia’s face and was her daily order.

Since we first checked in, the pool had been beckoning us. And we finally responded to it’s call on our second day. By the time we had been out all day, we returned to the hotel in the early evening so the weather had cooled down a little. Kids being kids loved the pool regardless of the temperature, but I only lasted in there for about 15 minutes before retreating to a warm fluffy towel. Even the pool area had a gorgeous view of the coast. You really can’t go wrong anywhere in this hotel.

After being on a cruise for a week we had built up quite a large batch of laundry. Fortunately a Laundromat was located less than 50 metres away from the hotel so we took our growing bag of clothes for cleaning. €13 for DIY or just €15 to have it done for us and delivered back to the hotel. We opted for the 2nd choice and continued on our merry way.

Driving around town for someone unaccustomed to the narrow roads and slightly crazy driving style, may be near suicidal. But fret not. Hotel Margherita provided a convenient shuttle service to the centre of town. It was largely on-demand, so we just let the front desk know when we were ready and the van would zip out the front of the hotel in no time at all. And to get back we just asked a local to call the hotel for us and they’d meet us in the centre of Praiano which was easy walking distance (with kids) from almost any point of town. On top of that it was one of the few hotels in the area that actually had a parking garage to tuck away our car for our time in the area.

The highlight of our stay in Praiano was the dinner on the roof-top restaurant at Hotel Margherita, m’ama. We watched the golden sun setting from one of the comfy lounges and then followed with one of the best meals we had in Italy. We shared this wonderful meal with Erin’s parents who were travelling with us on the road trip.

Erin ordered a perfectly seared juicy steak and I chose the pasta. As the sun set the temperature started to drop, but the staff were very kind and provided blankets to the ladies at the table so they could stay toasty warm. Very thoughtful!

Dessert was also delicious. Such a perfect way to finish off our stay in one of the most perfect places on Earth.

It felt like we crammed a lot of things into just a few days in Praiano, but every minute was as enjoyable as the photos depict. It was hard to actually pull away from these mesmerizing views, but we had to move onto the next leg of our road trip. Arrivederci Praiano!

Save Big Dollars With Car Leasing In Europe

As I gazed over the cliff from the driver seat of my Citroen car I could feel the breeze pulling my hair and smell the salty sea air through the open window. Amalfi Coast may have been a challenge, but it certainly was a challenge I was glad I accepted.

When my parents approached me about the idea of a month-long road trip through Europe I was thrilled. I couldn’t express the joy I felt meeting them at the airport in Rome after nearly 1.5 years (since we had left Australia for my Dad, shy of 1 year since I saw my Mum in Penang).

But before that we had to decide what car to get. We have rented a lot of cars in our time abroad, however I had heard there was a better way in Europe, especially for Aussies. 

Car Rental

Check out rental car aggregators like carrentals.co.uk or hotwire.com when looking to book a rental car. Make sure you check insurance, one-way fees, location fees, etc. It can add up. Then check it all against the actual agency websites as well. To be honest, I’ve always done better with an aggregator.

Renting a car for a long period of time can get costly and we found that even though we wanted to rent for a longer period of time the prices didn’t really get much cheaper. 

Enter Car Leasing

My parents told us they had decided to lease a car. ‘What is this leasing?’ I wondered since we had only ever rented a car.

What Is Car Leasing?

If you are a resident outside the European Union, over 21 years of age, and have had a valid drivers license for at least one year you can qualify for a tax-free short-term auto lease, which France designates with a "TT" (Transit Temporaries) registration.

When you lease a car in Europe between 17 – 165 days you can arrange a buy-back agreement. That means you technically buy a brand new car, but agree to sell it back to the company within a period of time, leaving you only the difference of the buy-back rate. This difference is generally substantially cheaper than a rental and includes everything, no hidden extras. 

Who can drive the lease car?

Most leasing companies allow the driver, spouse and any children (over the age of 21) to drive the vehicle. It is all included in the price.

What is the minimum lease duration?

Depending on where you live and whom you choose to drive with, you can reserve a tax-free short-term leased vehicle for a minimum period of 17 or 21 days. We choose Citroen’s 17-day minimum lease. If you require a rental for 17 days or more in Europe then leasing often works out cheaper than regular car hire.  

Benefits of Citroen Car

We had the most amazing car. It was a brand new Picasso C4, which fit 2 large suitcases, 3 small ones, a double pram and 2 backpacks. Not to mention the kids and all the stuff they ended up with. The back seat was 3 separate seats instead of the usual bench seat, which made it extra wide and roomy enough to fit my parents in on the odd occasion.

It came with a GPS, which was novel, considering we usually use my husband and Google Maps as our GPS. It also featured this marvelous front window with retractable sun visors to let in plenty of light. 

I probably sound like some walking advertisement, but I really fell in love with that car. If you want to buy me one for my birthday I would be very happy.

Some of the benefits with leasing is:

• Full comprehensive insurance (including third party liability and theft) - No excess, no worries!
• Pick up and drop off at different locations - helpful for our one way Italy to Spain. 
• Its a brand new car, model of your choice - smaller or bigger depending on how much luggage you have.
• Generally a lower cost then the average car rental - definitely lower for us. 
• Unlimited kilometers - make the most of it.
• Full factory warranty - bonus.
• All vehicles are equipped with A/C, ABS system, airbags, anti theft, central locking, electric windows and power steering - such a comfortable car.
• 24 hour roadside assistance - not that you need it on a brand new car, but good to know. 
• All vehicles with CD player - Actually had several charging points and my iPhone music played through very easily.
• No extra driver charges - this cost us a fortune in Ireland, so bonus. 
• No airport supplements - Again soemthing rental agencies love to jack up the price with.
• All paperwork completed prior to travel, you just rock up and drive off - so handy, quickest pickup ever.
• Vehicles can be driven throughout Europe, including Britain & Ireland
• Free pick up and return of vehicle within France
• 10 liters of diesel or 15 liters of petrol is provided free of charge - nice start to the trip. 

To me it was a no brainer since we wanted the car for longer than 17 days. And what fun we had with that car! Anyway, I hope this helped clear up what the leasing deal is in Europe and whether it’s worth it over renting. I wish every country did this, I’d save a bucket load!