I went to Italy and I ate A LOT.

Are you hungry right now?  No?  Well you are about to be.

My first snack and wine in Italy!

Clearly, one of the most important things about my trip to Italy was the food.  What souvenirs did I bring back?  Pretty much all food/wine related items (ok, I also bought one shirt).

Before our trip, I was probably most excited about the Taste Florence food tour I had signed us up for.  It lived up to the hype.

We started with a couple bakeries where we sampled artichoke bread and then a puffy pastry thing with cream in it.  Awesome.

Then we headed to the market where we had some beef roast with tomatillo and a spicy red sauce.  Also Awesome.

Then we had an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting.  It was amazing how different each little spoon of balsamic vinegar tasted.  I did not spend the 80 euro per tiny bottle on 30 year aged balsamic though. 

Then we had cheeses with jams and chutneys.  I now know how to host my next cheese party.

To end our market tasting we had some crostini with artichokes and one with a mashed up olive.  Olives are pretty much the only food I don't like, but hey, I was in Italy so I had to go for it.  Not the worst thing ever.  The sun dried tomato I had was much more amazing though.  I don't have any pictures because I was so worried about eating the olive.  I really had to focus.

Then we headed off to the gelataria.  OMG.  This was amazing.  We got to try 8 flavors.......
Lavender and mixed berry and the Lavender was actually awesome.
Chocolate Chip and Pistachio and the Pistachio was actually amazing to my surprise.
Lemon and a Creme Vanilla flavor.
And my favorite mix of all... Chocolate Rum and Banana with a fresh Strawberry Cream Mousse on the side.  The best banana-split-ish combo I have ever had.  And I never would have ordered Banana on my own.  I'm so glad we had the guide to make our choices for us.  Three days later when we went back to Perche No, I ordered that same combo.

Our last stop was a wine bar that was open in the afternoon just for us.  We sampled a Prosecco and a couple of reds and had some awesome bruschetta and sliced meat.  Oddly I was pretty much the only one who was not too full to keep eating the bruschetta.  I'm special like that.

Best Food tour ever.

At the B and B where we stayed in Tuscany, they provided a four course meal each night.  In the morning they would post the menu and you were supposed to tell them if you had any problems or concerns.  I assumed they knew what they were doing so I went with it.

Ham and Cheese stuffed fried dough balls, eggplant pasta,
sausage and bean stew, and tiramisu!

Awesome food that I normally wouldn't have ordered but am very glad I got to try.  And yeah, I took pictures at dinner (we were the only couple one night and the other night it was just us and a couple from Germany-I think).

Fried polenta with mushrooms, fresh pasta with tomato sauce and pecorino (best pasta I had!),
roasted chicken, rabbit, pork and potatoes, and Grammy's Pie!

I was so full after I ate these 4 course meals at the B and B that I was having trouble moving.  Worth it though.
Oh and here is a bonus picture of my favorite Gelato I had in Rome. 
It was a last minute decision on a whim and it paid off.  I'm serious guys.
FIG Gelato (wich a side of caramel).  Good stuff.

Things I ate that I could not photograph that were awesome....
Pasta stuffed with Truffles and Pears
Pizza, 4 ways-each fourth had different topping.  The part with Bacon was amazing.  We also had part with pumpkin leaves (good actually), Marghereta, and Gorgonzola.

B and I walked about 20 billion miles total so hopefully I didn't gain too much weight.  I'm eating a lot of salads this week just in case.

Do you tend to over-eat on vacation?