After spending three and a half months in Italy, dedicating my time to cooking and tasting the country’s unique cuisine, learning the ins-and-outs of each region’s culture, and exploring all that the country’s varied landscape has to offer, it was a bitter sweet feeling as my final day abroad arrived.  Interestingly enough, it strangely feels just like yesterday that I was packing my suitcase for this great adventure, but at the same time, that ages had passed since I was back home in Atlanta finishing up culinary school and cooking and writing at our home in Atlanta.

It’s the small, everyday things I missed the most while being away: petting our kitties while watching television, spending cocktail hour with my husband by the pool, and even taking long walks in our neighborhood while letting my thoughts run their course.  I would put money on the fact that similar small, everyday things that I experienced in Italy are the things I will miss most about my experience abroad.  For instance, writing blog posts in my small room that I called home at Hotel Soleluna, my long walks home from work at the restaurant in Sorrento, and the sound of scooters scrambling their way down the compact Italian streets.

The last two weeks of my time in Italy were remarkable; time spent with my husband whom I missed incredibly, capturing even more unforgettable sights and creating memories of our own as we explored the area from north to south.  We begin in Sorrento, then spent a night on the Isle of Capri before moving onto Rome, Orvieto, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice, Verona and finally Milan.  Each city just as charming as the last, but each as unique as can be.

Planning our last day before flying home to Atlanta, we decided to schedule a day trip from Milan to Lake Como.  Only an hour’s drive from the fashion, business, and finance capital of Italy we found ourselves walking the town of Como and cruising through the southwest part of the lake itself.    A lush landscape studded with over-the-top villas, private boats sailing on clear waters, and small towns each as inviting as the next.  Our tour included a couple of hours in the town of Belaggio where we decided to have a late lunch waterside.  I decided to go with my first instinct in ordering and have two of my favorite regional culinary delights: a café shakerato and an insalata Nizzarda.  A chilled, lightly shaken and sweetened coffee paired with the region’s version of a Nicoise salad.  A tender mix of greens topped with slices of ripe local tomatoes, crisp kernels of corn, flaky tuna in olive oil, local black and green olives, salty anchovies, briny capers, and cubes of creamy, fresh mozzarella cheese.  Just what my taste buds were craving.  Scott enjoyed another classic specialty, a tasty, lightly toasted panino filled with ham, mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.  A perfect lunch, in a perfect setting, with perfect company.

As I type this post, we are approaching our final three hours in the air before touching ground back home.  I am becoming increasingly more excited to arrive and to put all that I have learned to the test.  I will always cherish this once-in-a-lifetime Italian experience and look forward to sharing all that I have learned with those that I love.

Grazie mille, and Viva Italia!

Tagged: culinary school, externship, Italy