My Blogger Went To Italy And All I Got Was This Stupid Post

Buon Giorgno!  Yes it's true; I went to Italy.  Florence to be exact.  And I loved many if not almost all of my moments there with the exception of accidentally buying an unnecessary leather jacket. But I digress.  I wanted to tell you that I once had a great fear, dear reader.  A fear that Italian food was all pasta.  A really irrational, illogical pasta thought process that was most likely cultivated from only ordering the pasta dishes at the Olive Garden when I was a little girl. In fact, I now find Italian and especially Tuscan cuisine to be extremely friendly to the gluten-free diner.  I had one of the best meals of my life in Florence.  

To the Italians (and several nationalities really) food is an experience.  It is a joyful celebration of the robust nature and fragile splendor that is life, all presented perfectly on a plate or in a wine glass.  I myself never like how Americans are an eat on the go people.  An I'll just grab a bite in between my work and some more work people.  To me, food has always been special.  A delight.  Not to be rushed.  I want to eat how I live, savouring each moment/bite.

Unfortunately I don't often get to practice what I preach (I usually have to eat and run) but I was allowed to linger in Italy.  Some of my meals while I was in town lasted 2 or 3 hours.  No, I did not order 10 courses.  On the contrary, I often ordered wine, a main meal and occasionally a light dessert.  But with several restaurants doing family style seating and me traveling alone, I got to meet new people at every dining experience.  I was privileged to be introduced to a new dish while getting introduced to someone else's life.  Funny enough, I met a lot of people from California.  Go figure.  I go to Italy and meet people from my own state!  

All in all it was a fantastic experience, eating in Florence.  I hope to do it again, sometime very soon.  I will be posting about some of my favorite food experiences while I was there.  After all, I didn't take pictures at all of my meals like some crazed foodie for nothing!

And a note to all you allergic travelers:  there is hope.  If they'll love you in Italy, they'll love you other places too ;)