I’ve returned from my second trip to Italy!  Last year I spent New Year’s in Rome, and this time I spent my summer vacation in Milan and Sardinia.

The trip was very different from last year’s trip to Rome.  Rome is a massive city with over 2,000 years of history to explore.  Milan is the smaller, business capital of Italy, with few touristy attractions and a whole lot of fabulous shopping and fashion.  This time around, I felt like I got to experience the country on a little less of a touristy scale.  I didn’t run into a single American in Sardinia, and saw only a handful of Americans in Milan.

Milan is trendy and sophisticated, and Sardinia is just … beautiful.  I spent one full week exploring the northeast part of the island, and also spent one night exploring the Cliffs of Bonifacio in Corsica.  Clear salty water, white sands, clean sea air – I was able to relax and de-stress completely.  And of course, we ate amazing food – sweet tomatoes, rich honeys, delicious pecorino cheese.  The seafood in particular was spectacular.  One of my favorite things to eat in Sardinia is polpi e patate (octopus and potato), a dish generally served as a room-temperature appetizer or main course.  I don’t eat octopus much in the U.S. because it’s usually not that great when I order it out – but in Sardinia, it was amazing every time.  The octopus is so fresh – we even made it ourselves one day for lunch!

The food in Milan was good as well, but I didn’t go as restaurant-crazy as I did when I was in Rome.  For the Rome trip, I researched the best places to try (which wasn’t that hard, thanks to Parla Food).  For Milan, I think my exhaustion from relaxing in Sardinia – and the amount of money I spent on relaxing in Sardinia – negatively affected the planning and execution of a specific restaurant schedule.  But I enjoyed what I ate, and took a lot of pictures:

Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I can’t wait to return to Italy.  But back to reality, and back to my kitchen!