Gaffey Street Diner

My Turn: Trip abroad brings appreciation for food in USA

I remember as a young person watching movies and reading novels about people "tour on the continent." It was a people rich term used to extend holidays in Europe, including Spain, France and Italy. Well, now it has become affordable for everyday Joes like me, I too can say that we visited the continent.

We had a month of cruising on the continent. Aboard the ship we hit places in Gibraltar, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Israel. It was fantastic!

It was a whirlwind of culture, art, history, religion and cuisine. Our senses have been filled by the exciting and exotic places we went.Sometimes there was candy for the eyes as the great works of art or beautiful old cities with their great monuments and fountains elegant. Our ears were filled with talk about strange and funny music and strange noises.

But what really gets you the delicious smells from the many outdoor cafes (we should have more of those here) and many stalls. The smells are intoxicating.

I do most of our travel arrangements because I'm a nut which benefits from planning. For me, it adds to the anticipation from a trip.I think the anticipation is at least one third of the enjoyment of a trip, with the actual travel and persistence of the trip.

I'll take a few travel books in the fields, we will be on tour, and I will share with my wife. It can flip one or two, but it is more than one person on the Internet. Me? I open one of these books and it takes me to nostalgia City. My imagination takes over, and I cruise on the Seine or riding in a carriage in the French Quarter.

One of the things on our trip that I was not anticipating was our stay in Rome.For our visit, we rented an apartment on the fourth floor in an old building with a funky old-lift. Compared to our tiny cabins on board, the apartment was a mansion. He had large airy rooms with ceilings 15 feet, two huge windows with shutters that we kept open to let in the balmy breezes, a view over the rooftops of Rome with its terraced gardens and a lovely lively place on the area with restaurants, shops, shops, bus and metro.

We were two blocks from the Spanish, and we threw coins in the Trevi Fountain and many times we have crossed his path during our explorations.

Another thing I was looking forward to the food was in Rome. I love Italian food, so I could not wait to go there and try the real thing.

Gaffey Street Diner and 15 miler | Run Eat Repeat

Yay another southern california runner/food blogger! I’m pretty new to the blog world and haven’t been able to find too many from the area, yet i’m still learning how to search! you’re blog is awesome and inspiring…nice job on the running! I’m in Newport Beach and the wind was terrible so I bet your 15 this morning was a feat!

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