It's All About the Food

I used to load up on travel guides that I would check out from the library to do my research when planning a vacation, but I now use YouTube to get a better idea about the places I want to visit.

Take our trip to Portugal, last September, for example. In the months leading up to that trip, I literally watched hundreds of YouTube videos: some, several times. It got to a point where I think I knew Lisbon inside and out before we ever set foot in it.

Over the past couple of months, DW and I have turned to YouTube again for planning our next two vacations, for which we've already purchase airline tickets and reserved accommodation. In the fall, we're taking my folks to Italy. In January, next year, we're going to spend a couple of weeks exploring Costa Rica.

As soon as I have seen enough videos to get a good idea of our itinerary and to scope out the towns we want to see, I turn to the next important factor in any vacation: the food. For Portugal, before we even left home, I knew that I wanted to try a Francesinha, many cod dishes, grilled sardines, and more.

I watched all kinds of travel videos that focused on the local cuisine and made notes. The same is true for Costa Rica, and even though DW and I have been to Italy a couple of times, I've been drooling over restaurant suggestions and regional specialties.

It reminded me that I've eaten food that I would not normally eat at home. In Florence, for example, I tried tripe, the muscle walls of a cow's stomach. I saw it on a menu and was dared, by our travelling companions, to order it.

From what I remember, it wasn't bad at all.

There was another time, when DW and I travelled through Tuscany with our kids, when I saw pigeon offered at a restaurant, but my eyes had already fallen on another dish on the menu that I really wanted. My kids also saw the pigeon dish and I said, casually, that the next time we saw it on a menu, I'd order it.

That happened in the Etruscan town of Volterra.

My kids were very quick to point out my promise, even though the wild boar ragu looked tempting. DW ordered that dish and promised to offer a bite. After I had tried the pigeon first.

Everything tastes better with a bit of Chianti.

Again, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was quite good.

I offered a taste to my girls. Kid 1 was fine with her salad but Kid 2 actually tried some: this was a kid who only seemed to like plain pasta at every restaurant that we visited.

No thanks, Dad.

Brave kid.

Italy with the kids, in 2009, will still go down as one of the best family vacations. In fact, Kid 1 is considering joining us for the second half of this year's trip, when we'll be along the Amalfi Coast.

I wonder what foods we'll eat there? I guess a few more YouTube videos will give us some ideas.

Happy Thursday!