So...Now What?: European Cuisine...On Way Too Tight of a Budget

For one of the "best dish" posts, I really wanted to incorporate my Europe trip, but I couldn't think of the one category that I wanted to write about. I don't know if any category would win for being my favorite overall, but we definitely experienced some good food in Europe (and some not-so-great...anyone remember that sketchy cafeteria place in France?) I went to Europe in 2008 with a group that included some of my best friends, and we had a blast. We went to Italy, France, Monaco, and Spain and saw all of the sights and really took in the culture, but not as fully as I would have liked to in the cuisine realm. Now, I am not blaming anyone for this, truth be told, we were college kids on a limited budget, so we didn't have the option of fine dining, but it is a little disappointing in retrospect, now that I am so aware of all the potential that European dining had to offer. However, now that I think about it, I feel confident in nominating the coffee that we drank in Rome as the best coffee that I have ever had, and for a coffee-lover like me, that is quite significant. Now before you conjure up this cliche image of us sitting in a charming, local cafe in Rome sipping on an espresso, let me clarify, the coffee that I best remember was actually part of a continental breakfast at a hotel, but don't let that ruin this...it was incredible. The coffee was strong, but smooth. It had such rich flavors that I had forgotten about as I had become dependent on the weak office brew to get me through the day back home. Also, of note would be the gelato and the abundancy of nutella in creperies and cafes, I fell in love with nutella gelato and haven't had any ice cream that has been that good since. We ate churros dipped in hot chocolate at a chocoloteria in Madrid, and had great pizza in Florence with fresh mozzerella, tomato, and basil.Next time I go to Europe, I am going to save up so I can try to visit some of the Michelin star restaurants, I had better start saving now if I plan on going to more than one!