Florence, Italy: Food Guide

Italy. The place of foodie dreams. Some of my best memories growing up involve my Mom's side of the families Italian heritage. I can remember pulling a chair over to the kitchen counter to watch her cook meatballs and sauce, slowly graduating from egg-beater to sauce-maker as I grew older. My grandma and grandpa would always tell me stories about their Italian up-bringing and how every tradition revolved around food. Food IS their culture.

    I have always wanted to travel to Italy, mostly for the food, and was lucky enough to spend two-weeks driving around Tuscany with my mom last April. Although the trip was amazing, it left me wanting more. But it just so happens that my twin sister Monica is studying abroad in none-other than Florence this semester....so obviously I had to visit her!

    Last Sunday I set off to Pisa Airport (don't go to Pisa...don't say I didn't warn you) and travelled by train into Florence to meet up with Monica. On Monday morning I woke up ready to eat a weeks worth of food in just 2.5 days.

Below are some of the things I ate in one of my favorite places in the world.


TRATTORIA SOSTANZA
Like most bloggers do, of course I did deep research on the best places to eat in Florence. I found this authentic Trattoria from one of my favorite fellow Londoners, http://www.thelondoner.me/. 

Every post I read about this restaurant insisted I try the "pollo al burro" which translates to "chicken in butter sauce." So that's exactly what we did. My god were we satisfied. We split the chicken dish and also ordered "pasta with meat sauce" which was heaven as well. 

The family style seating allowed for us to meet new people and chat with them about other restaurants in town. We were sat next a woman from Switzerland who let me take a picture of her piece of cake! I'm not really sure what it was, but it looked good!!!!

LA PRIMERIA - IL MERCATO CENTRALE FIRENZE
I love a good market more than most things in the world. I'm pretty sure if someone were to find me somewhere in a random city, it would be a fresh food market. The central market in Florence is next level. The entire ground floor is filled with vendors of local delicacies such as truffles and olive oils, as well as fresh food vendors selling local meats and fish. The top level of the covered building is what I like to call a gourmet food court. Seriously, it's a thing of beauty.

I wandered around for a good hour before I decided on getting a pasta dish from La Primeria on the ground floor. The tiny little window is a bit hard to find, hidden deep in the middle of all the vendors. On the other side of the street food window was a counter selling freshly made pastas/raviolis that were being made right there. This is my heaven. I ended up getting the spinach and ricotta ravioli with a pomodoro sauce. Simple is always best. It was so good and SO cheap (5 euro!!!) that I almost considered going back for seconds 2 hours later. Unfortunately my stomach stopped me.

PANINI TOSCANI
When my mom and I were in Tuscany last April we unfortunately only got to spend one meal in Florence. This meal was a panini from Panini Toscani and I hadn't stopped thinking about it since I ate it. Whenever I travel I like to follow one rule: never eat next to a tourist attraction. They are usually tourist traps, however this one is the ONLY exception. Located in a very touristy location next to the Duomo, the food is the opposite of something you would find in an overpriced cafe. 

The owner lets you sample five different cheeses and three different meats, all from Tuscany. You then choose your bread and which number meat and cheese you preferred. I picked cheese 3, a young pecorino, and meat 1 which I think was a salami. You then got to pick from a variety of italian toppings such as roasted sweet peppers, eggplant, zucchini, arugula, and more. To finish off the masterpiece they stick it in a toaster (not a panini press, those are American) until it's nice and toasty. 

I ate plenty more amazing food, but the pictures of the other foods were taken at night and are not blog material. I hope whatever I'm doing in the future allows me to visit this amazing country at least once more. Until then, enjoy these pictures from the streets of Florence.

Thanks for reading!!

-C. 

Maine: A Local's Guide (Cumberland County)

Growing up in Maine, the last thing I wanted to do was be there. A self-proclaimed "city girl", I felt that I was growing up in the wrong environment. Every chance I had to escape, I did. When applying for college, a city was the only option. And that's the shortened and condensed story of how I ended up in London.
 
    I never thought the cliché saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone" would apply to me and Maine, but after spending just one month in London back in 2014, suddenly Vacationland was my favorite place in the world. I don't know if it was the change in culture, homesickness, or a mixture of both, but the only place I wanted to be was back in Maine. Since then, I've taken every opportunity to go back home; the same place I used to loathe with a passion.

    The thing I love about Maine is that there truly is no place like it. You can be feeling the sea mist on the rocky coast, drive 15 minutes inland and be in the mountainous forest. You have towns like Camden and Ogunquit, the poster children for coastal USA. Wiscasset and Bar Harbor; beautiful and unique with their own charm. And of course Portland; in my opinion, the gem of the Northeast.  Then you have places so rural that they don't even have names.

The next couple of posts will feature a couple of my fave places in the best state in the US....not that I'm biased or anything :) This first post will focus on Cumberland County, the county that I'm from (Yarmouth) and the most populated in the state.


PORTLAND

If you've never been to Portland, GO NOW! Seriously, you won't regret it. I'm sure me saying "go now" isn't enough to persuade you, but if one thing will, it's POTATO DONUTS. That's right...donuts made out of potatoes! "Holy Donuts" on Exchange Street is hands down the best part of the city. My fave is pomegranate, but if you're feeling adventurous, try the maple bacon.

NEW GLOUCESTER

If you're from Maine and you're reading this, you probably just said "why the heck did she choose New Gloucester????" So let me tell you a thing. I. Love. New Gloucester. Over the past two summers I nannied on Sabbathday Lake. Let me tell you, it was really tough work swimming in the lake all day. Jokes. But seriously, New Gloucester is one of those places that makes you forget civilization even exists. It's filled with back roads surrounded by tall pines and maples... and it's home to my fave: Thompson's Apple Orchard. I grew up going apple picking with my Dad and it still remains one of my favorite traditions. Even though he does 90% of the picking while I try and get the perfect Gram, I look forward to this every single year. Luckily for me I don't start classes until October, so I always fit in a Thompson's visit before I leave.

 

                               

                  

                  

PORTLAND HEADLIGHT/FORT WILLIAMS STATE PARK

Even though the name might suggest otherwise, this famous lighthouse is in the town of Cape Elizabeth. I have a tradition that every time I come home from London, I wake up at 5am (from jetlag and hunger), drive to Scratch Baking Co. in South Portland, and take my bagel to the headlight. Walking along the cliffs at the break of dawn with absolutely no tourists is such a refreshing difference from the bustling streets of London. 

                

PINE POINT BEACH

Sitting at the southern-most point of Cumberland County, Pine Point Beach involves (surprise surprise) another tradition. In the first weeks of summer, my family and I get seafood take-out from Ken's and bring it to the beach at sunset. How much more Maine can you get?

                

               

I hope you fell inlove with my home as much as I have! Stay tuned for more posts on other areas of Maine!!

-C.

Lagos, Portugal: Travel Diary

Oh.My.God. That’s all I have to say. When most college students think of going on a girl’s trip they think of Paris, Greece, or even Prague. Don’t get me wrong, all those places sound amazing, but I wanted a different kind of trip. My friend Emmy and I scoured the worldwide web and found Lagos, a small town in the Algarve region of Portugal. Without even second guessing it, we booked our flights and started to plan (or lack there of) our adventure!!! 

We (Kyleigh, Emmy, and I) arrived late Thursday night and planned to spend the next two days at the beach. We woke up Friday and went to the Marina de Lagos for our scheduled boat tour, only to find out upon arrival that it was cancelled due to rough seas. So, instead, we headed over to the little town and just wandered until we got hungry. 

   After we ate lunch we headed over to Praia do Camilo: a tiny beach at the bottom of 78976 million stairs surrounded by cliffs. On our way down the stairs we were like "lol how in the world are we going to get back up?!?!!" 

  

  Trying not to think about the stairs of doom we would have to take on our way home, we searched for a spot on the teeny-tiny beach. There was a small path through a cave that led to an even smaller beach, and when I say small, I really mean it. Butttt lucky for us there was absolutely no one on what we now call "our beach." Being with some of my best friends on this "private beach" just singing and dancing to our favorite songs will forever be one of my most cherished memories. 

    Saturday we went back to the Marina for our rescheduled boat tour. The tour took us all along the cliffy coast, through bright blue grottos and into hidden caves. I honestly didn't even know places like that existed. After our tour we walked through the town again and headed to an ancient Roman ruin beach we saw from our boat tour. We were so stoked and thought we were the smartest people to find this little hidden beach! Our taxi took us down this longggg road and dropped us off at the beach only for us to look down the cliff and see NO BEACH. The tide had come in and completely took over the beach :/ We stood there for a good 10 minutes not wanting to accept defeat, but eventually dragged all our stuff to the next closest beach, Praia Dona Ana. This beach was much bigger and crowded, but we were able to find a spot to lay out towels. Now, let me tell you a secret. I'm deathly afraid of swimming in the ocean. I'll go into my hips and that's about it. Don't ask why cause I don't even know. When Kyleigh said she found another empty beach around a cliff that was only accesibly by swimming, I pushed my fear to the side, closed my eyes and SOMEHOW made it to the beach. Sure, I was screaming "I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK IM GONNA DIE" the entire duration of the swim, but I made it. Like the 12 year olds we are, we built sand castles and decorated them with shells. Emmy's Spongebob pineapple house was scarily accurate (@Emmy who are you.) The swim back to the main beach was a lot less scary than the way there. I like to think it's because I conquered my fear, but really the tide just went out. 

    Our AirBnB host left us paddles that we played with on the beach. Emmy named the game "Paddle Paddle" and we sucked. If Paddle Paddle ever became an Olympic sport we would come in dead last. From 300+ people on the beach when we got there, we were the last ones to leave when the sun set. 

    On our last day we planned to explore Lagos a bit more, but ended up taking an Uber to Faros (the airport town) and waste time until our flight. I had the beginning symptoms of the flu and couldn't even think of doing anything except sitting and sleeping, so Sunday was a bit rough. We got dropped off on the towns isthmus filled with beach resorts and restaurants; it reminded us a bit of the Jersey Shore...but the good parts. Our Uber recommended a good local beach restaurant and we plunked ourselves there for 5 hours until we finally went to the airport and flew home. 

All in all, even though short, this was one of my favourite trips I've every taken. The mix of relaxation and exploration as well as the spontaneity and mystery of the destination, made for an amazing trip. If you ever have the chance to visit Lagos you should take the opportunity and grab it. 

-C. 

"Hello from the other side"

Ugh. So its been over a month since I last updated, but I told myself I wasn’t going to be restricted to a set blogging schedule, so I guess all is good in the Casey hood. Just to catch up on me (lol who even am I), I just finished up my second year of Uni and am now a Senior/3rd Year! Can I call myself a Senior if it’s only my third year??? Does senior stand for fourth year or last year??? Whatever, I’m old. I finished all my (stressful) deadlines and packed up my unnecessary amount of stuff for storage and flew back across the pond (hence my clever caption.) BUT I AM HOME to the heavenly scent of Vanilla Cupcake Yankee Candles and overcooked bacon, but nonetheless: home. I have some exciting posts coming up in the next week (could be two years in my book) so I’m excited to share them all with you. 

I think I should make this a game to see how many “lol sorry I haven’t posted since the ice age” posts I can do per year. I’ll try and lose this game even though I’m the only opponent (it took me like 5 minutes to figure out to spell that) just for all you lovely readers :) 

-C. 

Notting Hill and Blue Skies

Let me clear up one thing: London is not always raining. I don't even own an umbrella, so clearly that says something. The ever present stereotype of dreary, grey weather in LDN couldn't be farther from the truth. 

Today my friend Siobhan and I decided to head over to West London and check out the café filled, posh area called Notting Hill. If that sounds familiar to you it's probably because of the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant film...what a classic. Sadly I didn't see any blue doors, but I did find a pink house (so much cooler.) We found 202 Café, a little brunch spot that doubles as a store. Literally brunch and shopping all-in-one is my dream.

If I could spend everyday wandering the pastel colored streets and eating eggs florentine, I would be in heaven. Notting Hill never disappoints. As you can tell, I'm pretty bad about updating this blog, but hey, I'm trying here. So if you got this far down on the page, thanks for reading! 

-Casey