Our first trip to Italy over twenty years ago was a 3 week self-guided whirlwind tour using Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door book and videos to plan an itinerary and book hotels. We stayed in each place for 2-3 days to avoid feeling rushed and managed to see Rome, Sienna, Florence, Cinque Terre, Alassio (on the Italian Rivera), Sirmione on Lake Guarda and Venice. We ate in small family run trattorias and osterias and stayed in small inexpensive hotels. We learned about the Italian “slow food” movement with dinner lasting 2 or 3 hours which was so different from our American fast food culture of eating on the run. The cooks were using fresh, in season ingredients in simple dishes that rivaled any fine dining restaurant we had experienced at home. We thought this would be a once in a lifetime trip but we fell in love with Italy and have spent the last 20 plus years trying to replicate the food at home and returning to Italy as often as we could.

We hope you enjoy the photos and we plan to post recipes and more in the future.