Family Reunion in... EUROPA!

'Twas a crazy family reunion, indeed! We all met up in Rome, stayed there for a few days, then Ryan-aired to Paris for another few days together. Because I had already been to Rome and Paris before, it wasn't necessary for me to see certain sights again (e.g. the Colosseum, the Vatican, etc). Although back in 2009, I only had time to view the Eiffel Tower from the bottom. This time, we went all the way up to the top! That was my MMM #1. MMM #2: The 'rents frantically searching for filter coffee in a city (or country, for that matter) where espresso bars can be found within 50 metres of each other. Womp!!!

[FOTO] Goose Ristorante Pizzeria — Roma, Italia

Hands down, this place served up the best Italian food I've ever eaten. I mean the flavours were just so memorable and had so much depth goddammit. Take this appetizer above, for example. Olive spread, mushroom spread and artichoke spread — each on individual pieces of crunchy bread. All three tasted fresh/robust and there is no way in hell they could've been pre-made and taken from glass jars or tin cans. It's all about homemade errything at Goose. The mushroom spread still haunts my dreams, btw.



The pizza was great, but the pasta dishes at Goose are what really blew me away. Check out the fusilli dish above. It looks simple, but the mushrooms in the dish paired with the creamy/earthy sauce so well that I nearly died. I'm clearly exaggerating but good food must be praised, no?! OH, and the texture of the bucatini pasta — marvellous! With just the right amount of bite to it! Furthermore, Goose gets extra brownie points in my book because of 1. excellent service and 2. a cozy atmosphere (we sensed that a lot of locals also frequent the restaurant, which can never be a bad thing). A definite must-eat in Rome!

Gelato Madness!!! #Rome #Italy

Straight up, the gelato is great is Italy and all, but Germany's got some wickeddd gelato going on to. And it's about 0,70-1,00 Euro per scoop here. The cones in Rome were priced at 1,50-2,00 Euros per scoop! Absolute lunacy! In any case, what you see here is a gelato flavour called "Variegated Nutella." The strangeass name is what lured me into trying it. Couldn't tell ya which gelato shop it's from... all I know is that it's somewhere amongst the narrow cobblestone streets in the Trastevere 'hood. (woo!)

"Madd chocolate-y" is the term I'd use to describe this flave. I would have enjoyed 60% vanilla gelato with 40% Nutella gelato. Instead, this thing was close to 80% Nutella flavour! Wayyyyy sweet. And though it tasted good, the Nutella gelato was closer in consistency to a spread, so it was runny and melted super fast. Enjoyable, but definitely not a flavour I could eat every day. Ah well. #YOLO



YIPEEEEEE! Well. These mini gelato cones have a special story indeed. Let's just say, I kept seeing them on my last trip to Italy back in 2009, and never ended up having the chance to try one! As such, I made it a priority to finally do so during our recent trip to Rome. Simply put, they're small scoops of gelato coated with chocolate, white chocolate, pink chocolate or green chocolate (LOL). But they're oh so cute, handy and fun to eat! I tried the chocolate-coated mini cone, which had hazelnut gelato inside.