Best of 2011: Travel Edition

Hey everyone!  Long time, no chat...again.  Sorry about that.  After surveying our 11 day break together this week, Scott & I quickly realized it would probably be our last 'stretch of days' with just the 2 of us for...awhileJ  So we spent them doing all the things we know we won't be doing in the near future:  leisurely days, long 'mini road trip' lunches, NAPSJ hahahhahhahahahhaa  We have one more day together, but I wanted to get this post up for you today before it was mid-January...hahahahhahahahahaJ  The lover of lists in me has 2 days worth of "Tops" for you (like last year) and up first is the one that helps me conjure up some of my favorite memories of the year: Top 10's: Traveling/Eating Out EditionJ

TOP 10 DISHES OF 2011:

#10- Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese: Pop Shop, Collingswood

#9-  Scott's first "In & Out" burgerJ:  In & Out, west coast locations
(you MUST get the Double Double with fried onions!)

#8- Spaghetti & Tuna Fish:  Buenos Aires, Sant' Agata, Italy

#7- Stuffed Peppers:  Lo Stuzzichino, Sant' Agata, Italy

#6- Sundried tomatoes & buffalo mozzarella: Inn Bufalito, Sorrento, Italy

#5-  "Jim Rome":  Ike's, San Francisco

#4-  Roasted Garlic Guacamole: El Vez, Philadelphia

#3-  Seafood Risotto:  Ristorante Delfino, Sorrento, Italy

#2-  Dungeness Crab Roll:  Fish, Saulsolito, California

#1 Dish of 2011:  Pasta e Patate con Provolone: Lo Stuzzichino, Sant' Agata, Italy

Here's the 'don't mess around' category! 

Top 10 Desserts

#10-  Nutella Calzone: Dar Poeta, Rome

#9- Coconut Cream Donut: Donut Plant, NYC

#8-  Ricotta Pear Cake: Ristorante Delfino, Sorrento, Italy

#7- Orange Ricotta Cheesecake: Der Pallaro, Rome

#6- Red Velvet Cupcake: Sweet Eats Bakery, Voorhees, NJ

#5-  Gelato...ANY of it in Italy!!!: particularly San Crispino, Rome

#4:  Chocolate cream & hazelnut milkshake: Max Brenner's, NYC & Philadelphia

#3- Nutella Gelato: Giolitti, Rome

#2- Morning Buns: Tartine Bakery, San Francisco

#1- Triple Coconut Cream Pie: Ritz Seafood, Voorhees, NJ

And I have two more categories I had to sneak in!

Top 5 "Best Atmosphere"
My favorite unique dining experiences while out & aboutJ

#5:  The lovely lounge deck: Treno, Westmont, NJ


#4:  Cookies in an alley??:  Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, Chinatown, San Francisco


#3:  One of the most gorgeous bars I ever set foot in:  Cafe Lacatedral, Madrid, Spain


#2:  "Cart" Dim Sum: Yank Sing, San Francisco


#1:  "No menus, you'll have what we give you":  Der Pallaro, Rome


And here's just 3 things that needed their own category:

The best 'they just don't make it the same over here' of Italy:  The Olive Oil!


Best Coffee EVER:  Blue Bottle Coffee Company, San Francisco


And finally:
"I've been to Italy & back and can STILL say THIS IS THE BEST"
My beloved Delorenzo's Tomato Pies
(which is sadly closing on January 15th...sigh)

Hope you guys have a VERY Happy & Safe New Years!!! I'll be back tomorrow with my Top dinner & dessert recipes.  Hope you like lists as much as I do!J 

Off to Amalfi....

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the delay....hope you guys had a great weekend!  Ours was calm & peaceful, which was JUST WHAT WE NEEDED after all of our travelsJ hehehehhehehehehee....

Soooo anywhere....where did I leave off???  Oh yes...pretty much where we had found this AWESOME coffee shop at the corner of where we stayed in Rome the DAY we were leaving earlyJ

This place was local, friendly and soooooo delicious!  And since it wasn't in a bustling tourist area, we actually got to sit and savor our coffee lattes (FOR FREE!  No "table fees!") and our yummy CREAM FILLED croissants...yum!

My only bummer was that we hadn't found this place sooner because not only did we get a PEACEFUL breakfast...but they also had paninis which would have spared us from the WORLD'S WORST ONES that were a 20 minute walk awayJ  Oh well....live & learnJ

Sooooo after our peaceful breakfast, we headed off on our chaotic journey of a subway, a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Naples, the 30 (YES, 3-0!) stop Circumvesuviana train from Naples to Sorrento and then a bus to our hotel.  THANKFULLY, our hotel was an absolute BLISSFUL haven from all the chaos in Italy!  I can not say ENOUGH wonderful things about Grand Hotel Due Golfi...

(EXTREMELY) affordable rooms, an AMAZINGLY helpful staff, pristine grounds & rooms....

...and absolutely SPECTACULAR views from our balcony.  Scott's word's upon seeing the view for the first time were "you did GOOD with this one!"J  It's not often you get to kick back and stare at MOUNT VESUVIUS for an afternoon! 

So after our travels, where we arrived late & completely wiped out, we decided to go "half board" that night and enjoy dinner at the hotel.  If we weren't IN ITALY and in the land of TO DIE FOR restaurants, this REALLY wouldn't have been a bad deal.  It cost a LOT less than any restaurants....buttttt, eating out was one part of our budget that I was willing to splurge onJ  (hey....if we're taking the "cheaper 2 1/2 hour train"...we're going to eat DAMN WELL once we get to our location!J)  But for the one night we did enjoy the plentiful salad bar, melt-in-your-mouth gnocchis...

..."Neapolitan meatballs" with potato bake & fruit salad dessert.  (Scott got tiramisu, but for whatever reason seeing that fruit salad made my mouth waterJ...I know...very un-Donna likeJ)

Also included in the cost of our hotel was breakfast...

The hotel put out a lovely spread of croissants, cakes, cookies, rolls, ham & cheese, eggs & bacon....

...along with cereal, fruit, coffee & tea...

And my FAVORITE part!!!  Fresh squeezed orange/lemon juice made from the BOUNTIFUL citrus harvest from this region of the country.  Sooooooooooo incredible!  You have NEVER seen lemons the size of the ones they have here...they are almost the size of small cantaloupes!

Oh yeah...and I didn't mind the mini packets of Nutella....JUST IN CASE there was anything that needed a chocolate kickJ

Not a bad way to start the day along with the view from the floor to ceiling windows in the dining roomJ

So, our first full day in Sorrento I came up with the plan of visiting neighboring Positano for lunch and some wandering.  What I DIDN'T plan on was for the bus to be COMPLETELY packed, a bus driver that did NOT announce our location and ending up sitting on the side of the highway with NO CLUE where we wereJ

I actually believe the town we landed in was called "Lone"...which is just HILARIOUS to meJ

Very fortunately, after we began walking the road we noticed a town off in the distance and figured we'd head in that direction....

...and despite being lost and having NO CLUE how we were going to get BACK to Sorrento, we tried our best to take in our absolutely picture perfect surroundings of the Italian coastline...

As we were walking, I spied a restaurant in a hotel and what caught my eye was that I could see directly THROUGH the restaurant as it was made of ALL glass windows.  I knew I found THE PLACE to rest our weary (lost) feetJ

We started off with our first caprese salad of the trip....

...which quickly turned into a THEME after our first few bites.  We DEVOURED that plate...especially with a side of OLIVE OIL.  Ughhh..HEAVEN!

And the OTHER item we FINALLY got at this resteraunt:  Our first bites of HOMEMADE PASTA!  Sheer blissJ  Scott went the tomato, mozzarella & basil route...

...while I chose my first BLISSFUL bites of *FRESH AS CAN BE* Seafood from the coast! 

Holy moly...I have NEVER tasted seafood like this!  The mussels & clams had not ONE (NOT ONE!) ounce of CHEW to them, rather they almost just melted in your mouth!  It was life changingJ

I polished off that ENTIRE plate, wiped the plate clean of 'seafood' sauce with my roll and just barely refrained myself from eating the plateJ  It was an extraordinary welcome to this region of ItalyJ (ya know...minus the getting lost partJ)

So after some wandering, we approached the town and realized we had made it to the END OF THE LINE of the coast and actually made it to AMALFI!

We had TOYED with the idea of riding up & down the whole coast....we just went about it QUITE the unexpected wayJ hhahahahhahaha  It looks just like every picture you have ever seen.  It truly is like a dream....

So thankfully, the bus routes START in Amalfi, so we were able to get a seat (a God send...BELIEVE ME!) and go all the way back up the coast to Sorrento....

...where we quelled our sweet tooth with a shared cannoli....

...our one & only cannoli in Italy.  Sad, now that I think of itJ  But I wasn't too big on this one....they used citron in them and I'm not much of a fan.  I would be lying if I said I haven't had better ones in Jersey & NYC.

Butttttt, what can we NOT get better in Jersey & NYC?  More gelato, of course!

This round?  Kinder (an Italian chocolate/candy brand) vanilla & Nutella mix (NOTHING compared to the one in Rome!) and my beloved CoconutJ  I don't even remember what Scott ordered that day...we were too weary after our three hour tour 10 1/2 HOUR JOURNEY to "just get lunch at the next town over."  (PS-we NEVER did make it to PositanoJ)....

Hence why tomorrow began our completely RELAXED portion of the trip...but no worries, it contained some OUTSTANDING meals!  Ciao and see you tomorrowJ